HaloRed Vs Blue: Landing in the Gulch
by WebofSpideyguy7245698
Summary: After Cortana is seemingly destroyed on the Forerunner structure known as the Composer, Spartan-117, the Master Chief crash lands in Blood Gulch. Now facing fellow Blue Spartans, and even Red Spartans, he has to settle a conflict with the Spartans, who think that he is a Freelancer when he mentions "AI". Will the Reds and Blues welcome him? Will he find a way to fix Cortana?
1. Prologue

Halo/Red Vs. Blue: Landing in the Gulch

Prologue: Midnight

A/N: Before beginning, if you want to know _my_ inspiration for this crossover story, then just send me a question message. Or if you want, send me questions about any story or topic that's on your mind. Also, I don't own Halo, I don't wish I did, because 343 did a pretty good job with Halo 4. Minus, uh, well, if you haven't already, complete Halo 4, then comeback and read this. Trust me, you'll want to.

_John-117_

As the Didact lost his concentration and Cortana used her copies to "chain" him to the light bridge, the Master Chief fell, and narrowly missed falling to his doom. He held onto the edge, as he tried to pull himself up. The Didact continued his struggle for control, and the Chief grabbed the edge with his other hand making it easier to climb up. He started to climb, struggling a little bit. He pulled up himself up, placed his forearm on the light bridge and looked at the Didact, who was still struggling. He climbed up more and took out a Promethean Grenade. He got up and ran to the Didact, ready to plant the grenade.

Somehow, the Didact managed to regain some of his strength and he slapped the Chief across the light bridge. The Chief laid there, tried to get up, but as he tried, the Didact used his hand to force him up. Just then, the Promethean Grenade exploded, which caused the Didact to drop the Master Chief. He stumbled to the edge and fell over the edge. The Chief stumbled and looked over the edge, watching the Didact fall. He watched as the Didact fell into the orange-reddish vortex. The Chief took a small breath of relief and got all the way back onto the light bridge.

He wanted to think that it was over, but there was still a job to do. He started to crawl towards the nuke that had dropped off his back, trying to move, but going at a medium pace. After crawling for about ten seconds, he reached the nuke and grabbed it. He intiated the opening of the nuke and looked up. He saw the Composer firing at Earth. He looked look back down at the nuke and slammed his right hand down on the activation button. A white flash occured and he knew it was all over for him and Cortana.

...

The Master Chief opened his eyes and found himself in a hardlight cube. _What is this? _He thought. He looked around and started to get up on his foot and knee. "Cortana." he said, getting up more. He looked to his left and right. After not receiving a response, he said, "Cortana, do you read?" The Chief was starting to get a bit frusterated. He was standing up now. "Cortana, come in." He said, turning his head a little. He started to hear a humming sound behind him. No, not a humming sound. One of those old instruments form Earth. Like a cross of a harp and harmonica? He couldn't tell. He turned around and saw a blue light.

He saw Cortana walking towards him, slowly. But there was something wrong. She wasn't rampant or holographic. She was the heighth of the average human and she seemed solid. She continued to walk towards him, until they were a couple feet apart. "How?" he asked, at a loss for words. She smiled a little and said, "Oh, so I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" He continued to look at her. Her smile faded and he put out his hand a bit. "But if we're here-" He stopped talking and in return Cortana continued for him. "It worked. You did it. Just like you always do."

He looked up and turned around looking around the hardlight area. "So," he said, not turning back to face her. "How do we get out of here?" After a few seconds of no responses, he turned to face her once again, to see her just raising her head back up. "I'm not coming with you this time." she said, in a sad tone, but it was noticable. The Chief stared at her as if he was a five year old. "What?" he asked, as if the information he was just given was completely in a foreign language. She looked down at the hardlight floor. "Most of me is down there." Cortana said. "I only held enough back to get you off the ship."

The Chief didn't want to believe it. "No. That's not-! We go together." Her eyebrows raised a bit and she said, "It's already done." Her eyebrows lowered again. He took a small step forward and firmly said, "I am not leaving you here!" She stepped forward and stuck out her hand. "John..." she said, before touching his right pec armor plate. He was shocked. Cortana, the AI, his AI, was touching him! Physically, not mentally! She continued to speak in a sad tone and it sounded like she would cry, if AI's could cry. "I've waited so long to do that." Master Chief looked away and at the floor. "It was my job to take care of you." he said.

"We were supposed to take care of each other," Cortana said, as she looked at him and he returned the glance. "And we did." She sounded close to breaking down in tears now. "Cortana, please..." he said, looking downish again. She stood there for a few seconds, then retracted her hand and started moving back the way she came. "Wait-" he said, flicking his hand. She continued moving back and finally said, "Welcome home, John." She then moved her hands until they touched and then she slowly disappeared. He stared at the spot where she had disappeared, as the ship fell apart around the cube. He saw something like a cryo-pod formed around him, then he succumbed to darkness.

...

"We're all going to die, starting with Grif!" The Master Chief heard a man's voice, as he woke up in some kind of artificial cryo-pod. "He's coming to!" A female voice exclaimed. As the Chief opened his eyes, he saw what looked like Cortana standing in front of him. He then realized that the figure wasn't Cortana, as she didn't wear armor. He reached for his assault rifle on his back, but it wasn't there. He thought he heard another voice say something. "Say again?" he asked, his eyes fully open. He saw a Spartan in cabolt armor. "Where's my-" he started, but the man cut him off. "Can it! I'll be asking the questions!" he said, cocking the assualt rifle in his hand. "Now, I'll ask again, who the hell are you? We didn't request back up!" the man said.

A/N: As I said before, if you have any questions about this story, leave them in a review, or send me a message containing them. Next Chapter, the Chief will be introduced to the Spartans of Blood Gulch. Just so you know, this takes place after season 13, in an altered timeline. Stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to Blood Gulch

Chapter 1: Welcome to Blood Gulch

A/N: So, I hoped that the ones who read the prologue liked it for the most part. I'd like to apologize for putting Cortana's death into the prologue, but I wanted to have the Chief be introduced to the Reds and Blues in chapter 1, and I didn't want the prologue to be a paragraph long, so that's what I went with. Quick shoutout to Mandalore the freedom as he/she told me in a review that Sarge was an ODST in the Covenant War, so thanks a lot for the information. With that said, enjoy the chapter!

From the Spartan's point of view, if he didn't know that he was pointing a rifle at the Master Chief, which he probably didn't know, he should have been scared. The cobalt armored Spartan didn't look like he was backing down and the Master Chief was probably outgunned. So, he decided to just go with it and wait for a chance to get his weapon back. "I'll say it again," he said, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Who the hell are you, and what in the hell are you doing here?!" The Chief was about to answer calmly, but someone answered before him. "Jesus Church," a Spartan in black armor with yellow trim said. "Calm down!"

The cobalt Spartan known as "Church" looked to his left and said, "Shut up, Wash!" The Master Chief stepped out of the pod and looked at Church. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to, soldier?" he asked, in a serious tone. Church turned back to him and said, "What?! Who are you, then?!" An orange Spartan cleared his throat. Church took his hand off the trigger and raised his hand. "This is private, Grif!" he said. "That's the spirit, Bluetard!" a Spartan in Regulation Red armor said. "Shut up, Sarge!" Church said. "And you, get back in your- What?! Where'd your pod go?!" The Chief turned around, to see that the cryo pod was gone.

"Church, was it?" The Chief said, turning back to the man in cobalt. "Yeah?" he asked. "What of it?" The Chief was getting somewhat frusterated and pissed off. "Hey, is there someone nicer here to talk to?" he asked. "Can anyone here fix an AI?" All of a sudden, Church readied the rifle. The rest of the group raised their firearms, except for a Spartan in Regulation Blue armor. "Did you say AI?! You're a Freelancer!" Church started to fire, but the Chief flipped to the right, grabbed his sidearm from his thigh and fired a bullet into Church's knee. Church groaned and fell on his other knee. The Chief took his Assault Rifle back and pointed it at all the other Spartans. The other Spartans slowly lowered their weapons out of fear.

"Serves you right, Church!" A female Spartan in a Light Blue color said. "Shut up, Carolina!" Church grunted. "Now, I'm not a Freelancer like Church said," the Chief said, stepping forward, lowering his weapon. "Does anyone here know who I am?" The Spartan in orange, called Grif, raised his hand. The Chief pointed to him. "You," he said. "Grif, right? Who am I?" Grif cleared his throat. "I was going to tell Church," he said, nervously. "That he was shouting at Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, of Blue Team." The Chief had to admit, that he was impressed with the Spartan's knowledge of him.

"That is correct." he said. "But how do you know that?" The Regulation Red armored Spartan called Sarge, beat Grif to it. "I fought in the Covenant War as an ODST," he said. "You were a living legend, sir." The Chief nodded. "Well, with that being said, you are correct. That's an excellent summary." The Regulation Blue armored Spartan said, "If you are from Blue Team, then that means you are on my team!" A Spartan in Cyan, Sea Green, Aqua, whatever armor it is looked at him and said, "What are you talking about, idiot? We're not on seperate teams anymore! We're pretty much all friends here now, well, except the fact that we taunt each other a lot."

"So," the Chief said, looking around his surroundings. "Where am I?" The Spartan in whatever shade of blue stepped forward. "My name's Tucker. Pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you feel the same." he said. "You are in possibly the worst place in the entire universe. We call it Blood Gulch. And probably won't be getting out of here." The Chief didn't recognize the location's name. "Blood Gulch?" he asked. "What planet is that on?" Tucker looked at the Chief. "We uh, don't know." The Chief didn't like the response. "Well, that's just great!" he said, kicking the dirt. "I need to get back to the UNSC Infinity!" Sarge looked at him. "UNSC?" he asked. "I've heard of it a few times. But what is it?" The Master Chief was stunned. "The United Nations Space Command?" he asked. Sarge shook his head no. "Is that what the acronym stands for?" he asked. The Chief nodded.

"So, you're saying I'm stuck here?" the Chief said. "Yeah that's right." Sarge said. The Chief looked at the ground, accepting his fate. Cortana _had_ saved him from an eternity of floating through space. Somehow, the pod that she made sent him here. _But why?_ He reached to the back of his helmet and was surprised to feel what felt like Cortana's data chip. Or _a_ data chip. He pulled it out and looked at it. "What's that, Sir?" Grif asked. "Oh, this?" he asked, raising the data chip. "My AI chip. Or the UNSC's AI chip, I should say."

"Why doesn't it work?" Church said, finally getting up. The Chief looked at Church. "Shouldn't you call in a medic, soldier?" Church shook his head. "No, I'm good. Uh, I'm an AI, too." The Master Chief looked at Church. "You?" he asked. "An AI? Of course." Carolina stepped forward. "You see," she said. "Church here is the Epsilon AI. He is a memory fragment of an AI that was modeled after the Director of Project Freelancer. And all the AI's were fragmented from that AI. I'm not sure if _your_ AI was part of the program. All of our AI's were codenamed after the Greek alphabet. To name a few of them: Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Theta, Eta, Iota and Sigma. What's it's codename?" The Master Chief said, "Her codename is Cortana."

"I don't recall one called Cortana." Carolina said. "Why isn't she working?" The Master Chief put the chip back in his helmet slot. "She reached her limit of twelve years of service and she went rampant. Sacrificed herself to protect me from the explosion of the Forerunner structure, the Composer." All of the Spartans exchanged glances. "Say that again?" Grif asked. "She reached her limit of-" the Chief started, But Grif interrupted him. "No, no, no," Grif said. "We heard that. What was the thing about something called the Composer?" The Chief nodded. "Oh, that," he said. "A structure known as the Composer, built by an ancient race called the Forerunners."

The Spartans exchanged glances once again. "Forerunners?" Tucker asked. The Chief looked at them. "You haven't heard of the Forerunners either?" he asked. A few Spartans shook their heads and the others just stood there. "Of course. Where have you soldiers been?" he asked. "Oh, around." Church said. "Here, at Blood Gulch, Sidewinder, Zanzibar, some facility on the planet Chorus, places." Carolina nodded. "Affirmitive," she said. "Once we defeated Felix and Locust on Chorus, we came back here." Tucker laughed. "I thought the part where I recorded Felix's plan was fucking awesome!" Church turned around to look at Tucker. "Yes Tucker," he said, angrily. "We remember, asshole."

"I remember the part where-" The Regulation Blue armored Spartan started, but at the same time, all the Spartans except the Chief yelled, "Shut up, Caboose!" The Chief cleared his throat. "So, anyone know how to fix an AI?" he asked. "You could try getting in Sheila, and-" Church started, but Tucker interrupted. "Bow chicka bow wow!" he said. Carolina turned around and hit Tucker with the butt of her Battle Rifle. "Ow, hey!" Tucker said, after recovering. "As I was saying," Church continued. "You could try getting in Sheila and putting the data chip in one of her slots."

The Chief thought about this. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot," he said. "But who or what is a Sheila?" Church cleared his throat. "Oh, Sheila is our tank." The Chief looked at Church. "You named your tank 'Sheila'?" he asked. "We didn't name her. She named herself." Caboose said. "Well, ok then." he said. "Then please, take me to the tank, Church. Where is it?" Church began to walk away from the crash site. "Over by Blue Base. Follow me." he said. "Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha!" Tucker shouted. "Whatever, same difference!" Church screamed, as the Chief followed after him.

"So, why were you made into an AI, Church?" the Chief asked, as he caught up with the cobalt Spartan. "Oh, that?" Church asked. "Hell, you don't want to hear about Chief. It's just a fucking love story." The Chief grimaced in his armor. "Actually Church," he said. "I've had my fair share of love stories." Church stopped and turned to him. "Ok, well I guess I can tell you about it," Church said. "I started as an experimental AI made by my model, Dr. Leonard Church. They tortured me in the Epsilon Unit and forced me to split up into multiple copies of myself, with different personalities. It wasn't till a while until I learned that my true purpose was just to be a copy of Leonard and I was made to be paired with Tex, a cyborg made to model the Director's love, Allison."

The Chief looked at him. "The torture part sounds unpleasant." he said. "Yeah, it sure as hell was." Church said, as they walked up to the tank. "Hey, Chief?" Church asked. "Mmm?" the Chief grunted. "Sorry, about holding you at gunpoint." he said. The Master Chief turned to Church and patted his shoulder. "Ah, don't sell yourself short, soldier," he said. "You didn't know who I was and who knows, I might have done the same thing." Church pointed to the tank. "Well," he said. "Go ahead, and see if you can reactivate Cortana." The Chief nodded, and walked over to the tank, and opened the driver canopy. He sat down in the tank, and the driver canopy closed. The Chief pulled the data chip out of his helmet, and put it into the AI slot. The Chief opened a private com channel to the tank's AI and said, "Cortana do you read?" He heard a distorted voice, but was beyond recognition. "Say again?" he asked. "Is that you, Cortana?" Just then, a purple flash occured from the tank's AI slot.

A/N: So, there's the next chapter. About the "spoiler" in the middle of the chapter, that's not real. I just needed to make something up to explain how got back to Blood Gulch and it _is_ a Fanfic, after all. So, next chapter you will find out if the Master Chief found out how to bring Cortana back. As always, I hope that you liked this chapter and please leave a review.


	3. Chapter 2: The Flashback

Chapter 2: The Flashback

A/N: So, the beginning and middle of this chapter will be a flashback. I will incorporate flashbacks into this story every here and there, but not as often. So, I hope that you like this chapter. So, here we go.

_Flashback_

_Sarge_

"Prepare to surrender, Dirtbag!" Sarge said, as he appeared in a creek. "Ok," Caboose said, as he appeared behind the Sergeant. "I surrender! Now it's your turn!" Sarge turned around to face Caboose. "Not you, moron!" he said, lowering his gun. "Wait a minute. Where are we?" He looked around at his surroundings of the creek. Sarge turned on his com. "Hello anyone," Sarge said. "Do you read me? Do I read you? Anyone? Anybody? No? Ok." He clicked off his com and turned to Caboose. "Well, I don't think the others are coming." he said. "They must have gotten seperated somehow."

"My toes are getting pruny." Caboose whispered, just loud enough so Sarge could hear him. "Ok..." Sarge said. "Why don't we try to find O'Malley." As Sarge walked off, Caboose said, "I know where you can find O'Malley. He lived inside my helmet for a while. Maybe he left an address to send his mail. We were like roommates." Sarge heard the blue moron's footseps as he followed him. "Sounds like he took some of the furniture when he left. And the carpet. And the drapes." he said, turning around to face his adversary/ally. "And I wouldn't expect to get that deposit back, if you know what I mean."

Caboose ran off towards the back of the building painted with a blue bullseye. _Bluetard,_ he thought. Sarge followed Caboose and stopped when he stopped. "Sergeant, look, a sleeping person." Caboose said. "What?" Sarge asked, turning in that direction. "Holy macaroon." Sarge ran over to the body, and kneeled down to inspect the blue soldier. "He's not sleeping son," Sarge said. "He's dead." Caboose let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good." he said. "At first, I thought that was me, because I am blue and I like to sleep. But if he is dead, that could not be me. That would be silly." Sarge got back up. "No doubt he was killed by our very enemy," he said. "Once again, I found myself torn."

"On one hand, there's one less Blue in the universe." he said. "But now, Doc's got a bigger body count than me. And that just won't do. No, sir. Rest in peace, scumbag." Caboose ran around to the back of the building. "Look," he called. "More sleeping people!" Sarge ran over to Caboose, and saw that he was right. He saw more "sleeping" Reds and Blues on the ground, blood splattered near each body and there was a burn mark on the wall. "It must be nap time!" Caboose said. "But who has nap time now? Nap time comes before pants time, not after. I think these people are just making up times."

"What the Samuel Helsinki happened here?" Sarge asked. "It must have been an enormous battle." he said, turning to look at his Blue "partner" and then back to the corpses. "Hello!" he called out. "Is anyone ok? Are there any survivors? Preferably any Red survivors. Don't let that discourage you from speaking up if you're Blue. I won't step on your neck or anything like that." Caboose turned to Sarge. "Am I allowed to answer?" he asked. "Shh. Quiet." Sarge said, turning to face him. "You hear that?" Caboose nodded. "Yes." he said. "That sound is called water. It is very wet and very sloshy-" Sarge interrupted him. "I was talking about the trumpet, bluetard."

"I have to go to the bathroom now for some reason." Caboose said. "Which is odd, because I already went when we were standing in the creek together." Sarge spoke. "Wait a minute. I know that song. That's Reveille." he said. "Why would someone be playing Reveille in the middle of-" All of a sudden, to interrupt Sarge, all of the "dead" Red and Blue soldiers got up and starting cheering. "Sweet jibbly jiblets." Sarge said, as the horde of Reds and Blues were revived. "Running time!" Caboose said. "Hut, hut, hut, hut, hut." the Reds and Blues said as they ran back to their individual bases.

"What just happened here?" Sarge asked. "I think all of the sleeping people were trying to-" Caboose started, but Sarge interrupted him. "That was rhetorical." he said. He ran over to the Blue bunker and looked up at the window. "Get over here, give me a boost!" Sarge said, turning to look at Caboose. "Ok," Caboose said, making a light jog over to Sarge. "You are a good person and people say nice things about you." Sarge shook his head. "Not a morale boost, moron, a physical one." he said, looking up at the window again. "I need to see what's in that window." Caboose looked up at the window, and then back at the Sergeant.

"That window is very high. I don't think you are tall enough." he said. "I know," Sarge said, turning to him. "I need you help me look through it." Of course his idiot partner said, "I don't think I'm tall enough either. Also, my head is round and that window is square." Sarge was beyond frusterated by now. "Come here, you." he said, as he ran over to Caboose. He picked him up feet first and walked over to the window. "Whoa!" Caboose said, as he shot up to the window. "What do you see?" Sarge asked. "I see a room." Caboose said. "And, what's in the room?" Sarge asked. "There are some walls and some ceilings." he said. "Wait. Just one ceiling."

Sarge heard some muffled sounds from inside the base and said, "What's making all that racket?" Caboose listened for a couple seconds and said, "You are not going to like it." Sarge dropped Caboose on his feet and moved back. "Caboose, I have a very bad feeling abo- What's that?" he started to say something and it ended in a question. Reveille had started playing again. "Charge!" he heard Red and Blue team members say as they emerged from their bunkers. They emerged with Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Rocket Launchers and a few unidentified weapons. Sarge heard a combination of bullets being fired, rockets going off and Reds and Blues yelling at the top of their lungs.

Sarge and Caboose emerged from the alley, but did not enter the battle. "Come on, Caboose!" Sarge said. "Let's get to the higher ground!" Once they got to a higher vantage point, they watched the battle below. Well, at least Sarge did. A Blue scumbag ran into the water saying, "Yeah, I love reloading." Once he emerged from the creek and ran back toward Blue base, a Red soldier hiding behind a rock hit him in the back of the head saying, "Yeah, back of the head!" The bluetard fell down dead. "Tell my girlfriend I love her." the Blue said as he died. "She's my girlfriend now, bitch!" the Red soldier said, running off.

"Sarge, I am scared of our new friends." Caboose said, as Sarge watched the messed up battle. "Hot, Sonny Bono, what's going on here?" Sarge asked as another trumpet went off. A Red emerged from Blue base, and said, "Stop fighting, stop fighting, everyone stop fighting." He took bullets as he said this. All of the soldiers stopped and turned to look at the Red soldier. "Everyone, everyone, look unto me!" he said. "I possess the Blue flag." Another Red soldier lowered his Assault Rifle, saying, "It's more beautiful than I imagined." The Red soldier with the Blue flag said, "I have seen the top of the mountain. And you will worship me as though I were a god." Then, four Blue soldiers surrounded him and beat him to death with their weapons.

"I regret nothing!" the Red soldier said as he died. "I lived as few men dared to dream." Sarge looked over at two Red and Blue soldiers that had their weapons pointed at each other and they opened fire on each other. As the battle continued, Sarge noticed a kill-chain. A Red soldier killing a Blue from behind, then he was shot in the head, said, "Oh no." The bluetard was on top of a rock arch reloading his sniper. "Headshot!" he said. As he reloaded, he was shot by a rocket. "Oh, you rocket whore!" he said. Two Blues ran alongside each other. One of the Blues ran into the creek to fight a Red and they were both killed by a rocket. "The only good Blue is a dead Blue." a Red soldier said.

Another Blue ran into the creek, saying, "Christ, this water's cold!" He ran out of the water, and up the bank. Two soldiers from opposite teams were at opposite ends of a rocking, firing at each other, saying a trio of, "Hey! Hoh! Hey! Hoh! Hey! Hoh!" The Blue was eventually killed by another rocket. "Weak, you took my kill." the Red soldier said. "I didn't see your name on it." he said, running and reloading the launcher at the same time. He ran behind a rock, only to be killed by a Blue soldier. "Oh, you fucking camping bitch." he said, as he died. "It's a legitimate strategy!" the Blue soldier said, running from his hiding spot.

He almost took a sniper round to the head, but hid behind a rock. "Whoa." he said, taking a breath. The Red sniper cursed. "Damn!" Sarge watched as the Blue reloaded his assault weapon. "Hey, Blue we're the only two left," the Red said. "Let's work together." _No,_ Sarge thought. _Don't work together, Red!_ "What do you mean?" the Blue said, only slightly emerging. "I'm coming out." the Red said, as he left his cover. "Ok, I'm coming out, too." the Blue said. They both ran until they met in the creek. "What do you mean, we could work as a team?" the Blue asked. The Red hit him on the top of his head with the butt of his rifle and the Blue died instantly. "I bash you in the head with my rifle, and you die," the Red said. "Good teamwork you fucking noob. Good game, good game everybody. GG, man, GG."

The Red then let out a dying groan and fell in the creek, dead. "I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw or what this place is or where in the hell O'Malley is." Sarge finally said, after a few seconds. "My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif." Caboose finally spoke. "I am so confused. Where is Church? I need Church to tell me what to think. Church can handle this. He can handle anything."

...

The cycle eventually began again and Caboose and Sarge were back to back, fending off the Blues and Reds. "Caboose! Caboose! Keep them away from me." he said, firing rounds from his Pistol. "That one. And that one. And that one. No, no, the one with the limp. Get him." Caboose said this as he reloaded. "I don't want to kill and I don't want to die either." Sarge hit a Blue in the face, knocking him dead. "Yes, I heard you Sergeant." Caboose said. "I didn't say anything numbnuts." he said, in response, turning around to face Caboose. "Caboose, we have to break this never-ending cycle of attack and retaliation," he said. "Either by, A, convincing the two sides to live in peace. Or, B, by getting ourselves completely involved and kicking some serious ass. I vote B."

"I have a plan Sergeant. But we will have to move quick." Caboose got closer to Sarge and whispered in his ear. "Listen. Whisper, whisper, whisper." He backed up and said, "Do you think that will work?" Sarge just stared at the brain dead moron. "That was your plan?" Sarge asked. "All you said was whisper, whisper, whisper." Caboose said in a calm tone, "I know. I just wanted to be the one with the plan for once." Sarge thought for a moment. "Ahh, come on, I have an idea." He ran off towards Blue base. "It seems that they want each other's flag," Sarge said to Caboose as he ran. "If we can steal their flags, we might be able to stop them."

"Ok, I'll steal the blue flag!" Caboose said. "No, no, no, Bluetard!" Sarge said, Pistol whipping the moron. "_I'll_ steal the Blue flag, you steal the Red flag!" Caboose stared at the Sergeant. "Ok." he said, running off towards Red base. "Moron," Sarge muttered, running off to Blue base. He ran inside, and quickly took the Blue's flag. He ran back outside and waited for his moron of a partner. He waited for about a minute or so, and Caboose finally returned with the Red flag. "Ok, tard bucket," Sarge said, turning towards the ladder. "Let's get to the higher ground! Quickly!"

The cycle then began again. The Reds and Blues left their individual bunkers, and they stopped in front of each other, ready to fire. "Oh Blue Team," Sarge said, waving the flag. "Look what I have." Caboose said, "Oh, Blue Team, look what- wait, I messed up my line. Let's start over." A Red soldier looked up. "They have our flag." he said. "No," a Blue soldier said, turning to his enemy. "They don't. They have _our _ flag." Sarge cleared his throat. "Listen you morons," he said, lowering the flag. "You're going to have to work for us now." Another Red guy said, "What's in it for us?" Sarge said, "Help us get out of here and we'll give you the flags back. Then you can go back to senselessly killing yourselves."

"Deal," a Red soldier said. "Ha, sucker." A Blue soldier looked up at them. "Wait. What if we just kill you and take the flags back?" A Red soldier looked over at the Blue soldier. "Hmm, yeah!" Sarge picked up a Sniper Rifle and capped the Blue soldier. "Oh, you got owned," the Red soldier said, staring at the Blue guy's dead body. "I saw it, fucking owned." The Blue soldiers started mumbling stuff. "Teams, teams, teams." One of them said. "Shut up! Fight, fight, fight." a Red soldier said. Then, of course, the Reds and Blues started shooting at each other again.

"Caboose, I give up." Sarge said, dropping the flag and looking at his partner. "Wait," Caboose said, getting in front of Sarge. "I can make them listen. I can beat them." Sarge looked over at Caboose. "Son, what are you talking about?" he asked Caboose. "O'Malley taught me how to be mean." he said. "I just have to concentrate on bad things. Like, milk. No, wait, red, Red Bull." Sarge stared at Caboose. "Son, I think you've really lost it," Sarge said. "O'Malley's not in your head anymore. He infected the Doc." Caboose refused. "No, I just need to get angry and say mean things." he said. "Like, uh, your brain is a mountain of hatred." Sarge sighed. "I never thought I'd reach the moment in my life when I missed Grif, but here it is."

"Now I am thinking about kittens." Caboose said. "Uh, kittens covered in spikes. That makes me angry. Yaaaaaaah." Caboose ran and jumped off the ledge and landed behind a Red. He turned round and said, "My name is Michael J. Caboose. And I hate babies." One of the Reds said. "It's the beast. The anti-flag come to live among us and rule us for seven years. The end is nigh." Caboose went around, killing the Reds and Blues. "Great Gustavo, what's going on down there?" Sarge asked. "Sarge, Caboose! Can you hear me?" Sarge heard a voice behind him, and turned around to see a holographic, green Simmons.

"Simmons 2.0?" Sarge said, surprised. "I reconfigured a teleporter to allow me to communicate with you," Simmons said. "I need to get you guys outta there." Sarge scoffed. "Damn right, we need to get out of here." Simmons continued. "Get to your teleporter and I'll see what I can do from here." he said. "And, Sarge?" Sarge turned to him. "Yeah?" he asked. "It's really great to see you again." Simmons said. "Oh, kiss my ass some other time." Sarge said, a little bit irritated. "Whatever you say, Sir." Sarge jumped down the ladder. "Come on, Caboose," he said, running off. "Before they wake up again. He ran to the teleporter, Caboose right behind him. "Hurry up, Simmons." Sarge said, as the trumpet was starting again.

"All right, just give me a few seconds over here, Sarge." Simmons said, from the teleporter. "We don't have a few more seconds," said Sarge, as Caboose returned. "Then stop pressuring me!" Simmons screamed. "I rely on you for love and support!" Caboose said, "Your toast has been burnt and no amount of scraping will remove the black parts." Sarge groaned. "Oh, shut up, Caboose." he said. "Ok, there, come through now." Simmons said. "Ok, come on, Caboose!" Sarge ran through, Caboose behind him.

...

"And that's the story of our trouble at that one place." Sarge said, as the Master Chief sharpened his Combat Knife. "That _is_ pretty interesting," he said, looking at Sarge. "But why does Caboose talk like that?" Sarge let out a small grunt. "Eh, he's Blue Team's idiot." he said. "Gotcha." the Chief said, sheathing his knife. His plan to use the tank to reactivate Cortana had failed. He was worried when the slot flashed purple, since she was blue. So, apparently her chip had corrupted the tank and now he was charged with fixing it. Or, calling their command for a new tank.

"Chief, how old are you exactly?" Sarge said. The Chief looked back at Sarge. "46." he said, reloading his Pistol, after the conflict with Church. "Wow." Sarge said. The Chief put the Pistol back on his thigh. "Hey, Chief!" he heard Church from inside Blue base. He turned around and walked towards the tunnel into Blue base. "What is it, soldier?" he asked. "Our command is on the line!" Tucker called from inside the base. "They want to talk to you!" Chief sighed. "I'll be right in." he called back. "I'll see you around, Sergeant." he said, turning back to him and saluting him. "Ok, see ya!" Sarge said, as the Chief walked back to Blue base.

He stopped in the center of the room. "We'll leave you, Sir." Church said, and he and Tucker left. The Chief walked to the com, and picked it up. "This is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117." he said. "Hello, Chief." the man on the other end said in a sort of mellow voice. "We have news for you." The Master Chief grunted. "And?" he asked. "We are sending the UNSC Spirit of Fire to your position, loaded with supplies and a new tank." The Chief grunted again. "Roger that." he said and he hung up with that. "I don't like this," he said, walking back out of the base. "Why would they send supplies to me out of the blue? How did they find me?"

A/N: Alright, so I hope you like that chapter. Next chapter, the Chief will be faced with a new threat. So, until next time, keep reading.


	4. Chapter 3: The Arrival

Chapter 3: The Arrival

_Flashback_

_John-117_

As the Flood Combat Forms surrounded the Master Chief, he fired Shotgun shells at them, gunning them down. He was down to his last shell and he fired it right into the center of an infected Elite's chest, where the root of the infection seemed to sprout up. He dropped the Shotgun and drew his Assault Rifle. He opened fire at the Forms until most of them were gone. He ran aboard the Pelican fighter and closed the hatch. He took out Cortana's data chip and put it in the AI slot. Cortana's holographic image appeared, having her arms crossed. "Fire the engines," the Chief said. "Now!" The engines fired, and the Master Chief got into the pilots seat.

"Punch it!" he said, as the Pelican took off. "Fifteen seconds, Chief!" Cortana warned him. "I got it, I got it." he said, as he guided the Pelican towards space. "Ten seconds!" she warned him once again. He left the ring's orbit, just as the Pillar of Autumn's fusion engines fired, destroying the ship and that part of the ring. After a few minutes, Installation 04 was gone. "Are we the only survivors?" the Chief asked. "Scanning." Cortana said. "Nothing. Just dust and echoes. We're all that's left! Halo, it's finished." The Chief shook his head, reaching to take off his helmet. "No," he replied, taking his helmet off. "The Covenant is still out there and Earth is at risk. We're just getting started."

...

"Cortana!" the Chief shouted as he woke up. What a nightmare. Alpha Halo, the battle and the Flood. But the Flood was gone and so was Halo. After the Battle of Installation 00, otherwise known as the Ark, it seemed that both the Flood and Delta Halo's Gravemind had been destroyed for the better. He got up and looked around. Sarge, Church or any other guys were no where to be found. "Sarge, Church!" the Chief called out, walking deeper into the canyon. "Anyone?" _Where have they gone now,_ he thought. He walked around, this being the first time he had seen his surroundings for real. He was in the middle of a box canyon, and it was mostly desert, and rocks. Also, here and there, there were a few trees. He decided to take this time to make a journal entry, since he was alone. He activated the journal function on his hud and started speaking. "Journal entry number five. So, it's been a few years since I've done one of these, so I might be a little rusty. Let me catch you up. A few years back, after abandoning the Pillar of Autumn with Cortana the AI, we found Installation 04, one of the many Halo Installations in the known Universe. Turned out, the Installation was a prison for a parasitic race, known as the Flood. We destroyed the ring a couple days or so after it's discovery, which narrowly prevented the Flood's escape. I floated in space for a while in a Pelican with Cortana, until we discovered a group of survivors, including Sarge A.J. Johnson. With them, we boarded a Covenant Ship and were able to return to Reach. Weeks or perhaps months later, the Covenant attacked us at Cairo Station, right above Earth. We defended Cario Station and I defused a Covenant bomb that was present. After that, Cortana re-armed the bomb and we literally dropped it off the station, so I could guide it to the Covenant Carrier." he said, starting the journal entry.

"After that, I fell to the _UNSC En Amber Clad_ and we went to Earth, to defend it as well. After hours of fighting and me single handedly dropping a Scarab, we followed the Prophets through a slipspace rupture, which led to Installation 05, another Halo. We dropped onto the Ring and fought through many ancient temples. I eventually got blown off of a pylon or something, I can't remember what it's called and sunk to the bottom of the lake, pond, ocean or whatever it was. Or so I thought. I was grabbed by a tentacle and found myself in a cavern. I was face to face with some monstrousity of nature, called the Gravemind, which is like, the leader of the Flood. I also came in contact with the Arbiter, a Covenant Elite that I'd eventually side with, for the battle of the Ark. More on that later. He sent us after the Index, something about keeping the key from turning. I went to one part of Halo and the Arbiter to another. I ended up on the High Charity, I believe. Sometime between then and now, I ended up back on Earth. My armor locked and Johnson had to find me and unlock it. We fought the Covenant, with the help of the Arbiter on Earth for several hours. Or days. I can't remember. Eventually, we found-"

"Hey Chief," he heard someone say behind him. "I'll, uh, have to finish this later." he said. The Chief turned around to saw the guy in black armor with yellow trim. "Oh," the Chief said. "It's you. The one they called Wash." The man grunted. "It's actually Agent Washington of Project Freelancer. Former Freelancer. You can just call me Washington. Or Wash as Church did. Whatever." he said. "Pleased to meet you, soldier." the Master Chief grunted. "Why aren't you a part of Project Freelancer anymore?" he asked. "Most of the Freelancers went rogue. I was supposed to hunt down Agent Maine. Also known as the Meta. Project Freelancer doesn't exist anymore."

"Mister Chief, Mister Chief!" the Chief heard Caboose's voice. He turned in his direction. "For the last time Michael," he groaned. "You don't have to call me 'Mister Chief', just Chief will do fine." Caboose stopped running in front of the Chief. "Mister Chief," he said, ignoring the Chief's recomendation. "I have a question." The Chief stared at him. "Well?" he asked, gesturing to the Blue. "Come on, I don't have all day." Caboose took a deep breath. "When is the ship you ordered going to get here?" he asked. "How did you know?" the Chief asked, slightly annoyed. "I might have spied on you," Caboose said. "Ok, I did spy on you." The Chief rolled his eyes in his helmet. "Whatever. And I didn't order it, I have no idea when it'll be around."

"Hey, Chief!" the Chief heard Church's voice. "Oh my god," the Chief muttered, walking in Church's direction. "I liked it better when Cortana _was_ in my head." Well, techinically she was, but she was permenantly offline. "What is it Church?" he asked, upon reaching the Cobalt armored Spartan. "If Caboose is annoying you," Church said. "Then feel free to shoot him." The Spartan looked at Church. "You don't kill your teammates, Church." he said. "Even if he is an annoying little bitch?" Church asked. "Church," he said. "Do you want me to shoot you in the other knee?" Church started laughing. "It wouldn't matter!" Church said. "I'm just an AI encased in a robot body."

The Chief looked at Church. "Church," he said. "I'm a pretty fair man. Washington, get over here!" The Chief heard Washington running up to him. "Yeah?" he asked. "Ok," the Chief continued. "Church, I'll give you a ten second head start before I let Washington do whatever he wants to do to you." The Chief reached for his sidearm. "Oh, come on Chief!" Church said. "I was just kidding." the Chief raised his Pistol just as Washington raised his Assault Rifle. "One Mississippi, two Mississippi..." He started counting. "Ok, I'm going to be going now." Church said, turning around and running back to Blue base. He looked at Washington and they turned in Church's direction. They opened fire on him as a joke, but aimed around him, not at him.

"Hey guys, stop that!" Church said, still running. "Ok, he's gone Washington, stop firing." He and Washington stopped firing, reloading their weapons. He placed his sidearm on his thigh again and turned to Washington. "Thanks, Washington." he said. The Chief had been in Blood Gulch for three days now and he had yet to forget Cortana. And he wouldn't. Cortana was like a mother figure to him during the Battle on Alpha Halo. She became a friend to him during the Battle of Earth and the Battle on Delta Halo. And then, after relocating her on the Flood infested Covenant ship, _High Charity_, they had became close friends. Then after the events on the Ark, a Forerunner "control center" to the Halos, she became more to him. She had became _human_ to him. But she wasn't. Then there was the tragic loss on the Composer. She was gone now and it was all his fault.

He had made a promise to get her back to Earth or where they would be able to find Dr. Catherine Halsey. _Don't make a girl a promise,_ Cortana's voice echoed in his brain. "If you know you can't keep it." He finished the echoing words. "You ok, Chief?" Washington said, waving his hand in front of the Chief's faceplate. "I'm fine, Washington." he said. He would bring Cortana back, even if it meant the end of _his_ life. "So, you ordered a ship to come?" Washington asked. "Why does everyone think that I _ordered_ a ship here?!" the Chief screamed. "The officer just said a ship was coming!" Washington took a few steps back. "Okay, okay. Sorry Chief." he said. The Master Chief shook his head. "You're fine, Washington," he said. "I'm just stressed out from the action on Reqiuem and the Composer."

"What are those?" Grif asked, running over to the two Spartans. "Ah Grif," he said, turning to the orange Spartan. "I'm not the person you should speak to about that." Well, in reality he was, but it was kind of classified and these Spartans had no proof that they were part of the UNSC. "Then who is?" Grif asked. "I don't know." he said. "Oh, fuckberries." he heard Tucker say. "Chief, you might want to move. Like, right now." The Chief turned to Tucker. "Me? Why?" he asked. Tucker jumped and tackled the Chief to the ground, just as the sound of a Sniper Rifle went off. "Horse shit!" he heard Simmons' voice. "I almost hit the bird on your head!" Tucker got off the Chief and put his hand out. The Chief took Tucker's hand and got up. He brushed himself off and turned towards Red Base.

"What the hell are you doing, Simmons?!" the Chief yelled. "Just getting target practice in!" Simmons shouted back. "Using a fellow Spartan?!" Grif shouted. "Hey," Tucker said. "The Chief doesn't need help." The Chief heard someone Pistol whip someone and heard Tucker say, "Ow! Asshole!" The Chief turned back to the rival Spartans or former-rival Spartans. "That's enough, out of both of you!" he said. He turned back in Simmons' direction. "Simmons," he called in the maroon Spartan's direction. "If you do that again, I'll shoot you!" Simmons laid the Sniper Rifle across his chest, looked around, saw Donut, the Pink armored Spartan, standing there and shoved it into his hands. "Sorry, Donut did it!" he called. Donut looked over at Simmons, said something and hit him in the head with the Rifle.

Then Simmons dropped his Pistol and they started fighting. The Master Chief sighed in frusteration. He turned back to Washington, Tucker and Grif. "Look, you guys stay here, I have to go settle that fight." he said. "Try not to kill each other." He turned around and ran off towards Red base. The shouts of the two Reds got louder. "Quit hitting me, Donut!" he heard Simmons say. "I thought you were a pacifist?!" Donut continued hitting his teammate. "That was Doc, you dumbass!" The Chief had gotten closer and walked up the ramp to the roof of the bunker. He got up there, to see Donut and Simmons still fighting. He took out his Pistol and fired it into the air. Donut tripped over Simmon's legs and fell over the edge of the roof.

"There," he said, reloading his Pistol. "Now if everyone is clear, stop attempting to kill each other!" He heard both of them say yes sir at the same time. "Right then," he said, putting the Pistol back on his thigh holster. "Now stop fighting. No more target practice." He heard more yes sirs and he jumped off the roof, on the way back to Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha. "Chief!" he heard Carolina yell for him. "For the love of Christ!" he screamed. "What now?!" The light blue colored female Spartan ran out of Blue base, pointing in the distance.

The Chief turned around to see cruiser nosediving towards the cliffs. And not just any cruiser. He knew it was the _UNSC_ _Spirit of Fire_ was nosediving towards the cliff system that led out of the Gulch. "What in Sam Hill is going on here?!" he heard Sarge say. "That's the ship they said was coming!" the Chief yelled. The _Spirit of Fire_ stabbed into the dirt above the canyon and fell backwards into the dirt, making a thunderous slamming noise. "Uh, what's going on here?" Grif said. "I don't know," the Chief said, looking up at the downed cruiser. "But I don't like it." He turned around and ran towards Blue base. He walked in, grabbed some ammo for his Assault Rifle, four Frags and more Pistol ammo. He then walked out of the base and up the ramp to the roof.

"Ok people," he said, walking to the edge of the roof. "Listen up!" He saw Caboose and the rest of the Spartans running towards the base. "Wait, don't start without me!" Caboose yelled. The Chief rolled his eyes and waited. Once all the Reds, Blues and the two Freelancers were lined up, he started. "Listen up," he started. "I don't like how that cruiser landed. So, I'm going to check out the crash site. I'll be taking a five-man fire team, including me. Any volunteers?" Sarge and Washington raised their hands. "Ok," he said, pointing at them. "Sarge and Washington are the volunteers. Any other takers?" No one raised their hands. "Ok," he said. "Then I'll pick. Church and Grif." Grif looked up at the Chief. "Why is it always me?" Grif sighed. Master Chief jumped off the roof. "Ok," he said, walking towards the cliffs. "Let's go. No wasting time."

A/N: So, what do you think is on the _Spirit of Fire_? Will it be a way for Chief to bring Cortana back? Rogue Covenant? You decide. The possibilities are literally endless for you to think of! Also, I'm sorry if the Chief's journal entry isn't accurate. It's been months since I've played a Halo game! Or read the books. Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 4: Spirit of Fire

Chapter 4: _Spirit of Fire_

A/N: Ok, this chapter may be longer or shorter. You'll just have to see as you go. No skipping ahead to find out please. But anyway, in this chapter, the Chief and his fire team will be investigating the ship they think to be the _UNSC_ _Spirit of Fire_. And they'll run into something very, very familiar, well, familiar to the Chief. No hints. Sorry, not my style. On with the chapter!

The Master Chief climbed over the edge of the cliff that dropped into Blood Gulch. He turned around and waited for his fire team. "Move it, maggots!" he shouted. "We don't have all day!" Washington was the first to get up the rise. "Good job, Washington." he said. "What?" Washington asked the Chief. "Do I get a medal?" He shook his head. "I'm afraid not, soldier." he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Hurry up!" he shouted. He saw a shotgun fly over the rise and Sarge came up next. "Chief," Sarge started. "What do you expect to encounter on this vessel?"

"I have no idea." he said. "But that's why I told you to bring guns and ammo." Church climbed up and rolled over onto his back. "You didn't tell us to bring ammo!" he yelled. "We just assumed so!" Grif came up next. "Never assume Church," Grif said. "It'll make an ass out of you and me!" Church grunted. "Shut. Up. Grif." he groaned. "You maggots have to work out more." the Chief said. "Washington, I give you an A+ for effort." The Spartan and his team took a few minutes to rest. After a few minutes, he got up. "Ok ladies," he said, turning towards the _Spirit of Fire_. "What are you waiting for? Chinese New Year? To the ship and on the double!"

"Yes sir!" One of the Spartans groaned. He walked towards the _Spirit of Fire_ and looked for a way in. "This doesn't seem right." the Master Chief said. "What do you mean?" Sarge asked. "If there are survivors," he said, turning around to face his squad. "they might have signaled by now. I don't like it." He turned back around, and spotted a hole in the bridge's window. "Team," he said, pointing. "That's our way in. Let's go!" _Thank God the ship is upright,_ he thought. They found the lowest entry point, which was parts of the front hull smashed inward from the impact, which made make-shift steps and climbed in. "Do you think the impact made a hole in the glass?" Grif asked. "I think so." he said. "It's the only logical explanation."

They walked around the bridge, looking around. "What are you looking for?" Sarge asked. "Nothing in particular." he lied, turning around. "Just looking around." In reality, he was looking for a data console, where AIs would be placed into. Maybe, just maybe, if he could locate one, he could find out what happened to this doomed ship. He looked around the bridge and finally stopped. "It must have been destroyed." he said. "What must have been destroyed?" Washington asked. "The data console," he answered. "I thought if I could find one, I could find out what happened here." He walked over to one of the terminals and saw that it was flashing green. He frowned and tapped a few buttons on it.

Nothing happened, but the console set on fire. "Well, that didn't go as planned." Sarge said. "There's nothing here, lets move on." the Chief said. He walked over towards the back of the bridge, his crew right behind him. He came to a door, that was jammed shut. The Chief took out his Assault Rifle and opened the door with the butt of his weapon. "Just like old times." he whispered, thinking about the action on the _Pillar of Autumn_. He walked outside the bridge and checked both ends of the hallway. "Nothing!" the Chief said. "Not even a sign of a struggle!" He walked around, looking for something. Anything. "Listen up," the Chief said. "Our first task is to find the cryo-bay. If there are any survivors whatsoever, they might be locked up in the pods."

"Got it." Washington answered. The Chief walked down the hall, looking for signs that would lead around the ship. He walked to the left end of the hall and started to hear voices. They didn't sound human. "Everyone, hide!" he hissed. They didn't question him, just did as they were told. A few seconds passed and he saw a group of Brutes walking down the opposite end of the hallway. "Brutes?" he whispered. "Why would Covenant Brutes be on a UNSC cruiser?" He waited for them to pass and got back into the hall. "Who were those guys?" Washington asked. "Not guys," he said. "Covenant Brutes. I fought them in the Human-Covenant War." Sarge grunted. "But isn't the war over?" he asked. "I thought it was." he said. "Until a couple days ago, before I landed here."

"What should we do?" Church whispered. "We don't do a damn thing." Chief said. "I let them pass. They might not be friendly, but I'm not taking any chances." He walked towards the way they came, signaling his troops to follow. "Something isn't right here," he whispered. "They weren't holding plasma weapons, they were holding a mix of Covenant and UNSC weapons." _Maybe they were part of a space salvage group, like Cortana and I encountered on the Forward Unto Dawn,_ he thought. He shuddered when he thought of Cortana's name. The Chief saw a sign on the wall, which pointed to an armory. "Men," he said, turning to his troops. "There's an armory nearby. We get there, restock on ammo or get additional firepower and then explore further." The four other Spartans nodded. He ran down the corridor, with his troops right behind him.

He saw a pair of sleeping Grunts. "Men, see the midget-like aliens?" he asked. "Yes sir." they whispered. "Take them out," he whispered back. "Quietly." He saw Grif and Church sneak over to the sleeping Grunts. He heard a crack of their skulls and they were sleeping. Forever. "Nighty Night." he whispered. "Sarge," he whispered, turning his head. "Take point by the door. You too, Wash." He heard them acknowledge and they walked towards the armory door. He followed, them and got in front of the door. "Church, Grif!" he whispered. "Behind me, now!" The pair got behind him and he nodded to Sarge and Washington. "On three," he whispered. "One, T-" Grif interrupted him "Wait, wait, wait," he whispered. "On three and then go? Or on three?" The Master Chief shook his head. "On three, you numbnuts." he hissed. "It's always faster to go on three."

"Ok," he whispered. "One, Two and go!" He kicked open the door and looked for hostiles. He saw three Elites, standing with their backs to them, as they made grunting sounds. "It's ok," he said, raising his hand. "They're friendlies." He only thought they were friendlies because of his alliance with the Arbiter. He walked towards the Elites. "Hey, are you guys with the Arbiter?" He asked the Elites. One of the Elites, with crimson armor, jumped up, turned around and tried to hit the Chief with his Battle Rifle."What the fuck?!" he nearly shouted. "What's going on? I'm on your side! Arbiter! Arbiter!" The Elites ignored the mention of the Arbiter and preceeded to attack. "Fuck it," the Chief said, leveling his Rifle. "Open fire!" He opened fire on the Elite's face and it fell down. He snapped to another Elite, rolling to the right at the same time and fired. The Elite in the middle that he had just shot, twitched twice and got back up. "What the hell?!" Church shouted. "What is going on?!" The Chief thought he knew, but he didn't want to accept it. He saw the green tint and algae-like body structure, but he didn't want to accept what he thought was going on.

He kept firing at the Elites, as one of them charged Washington. "Washington! Watch your six!" he screamed. The door opened and three or four Brutes joined the party. "Fuck!" Grif said, firing at the newcomers. "They sent backup!" Suddenly, the Chief had an idea. "Everyone, out of the room!" he yelled, as he primed a grenade. He threw it at the wall next to the door and it bounced back. His Spartans piled out of the room, and he flipped out behind them. Only half a second later, the grenade went off and he heard sounds of dying Brutes and Elites. "Holy shit," Grif said, after catching his breath. "What the hell was that?" The Master Chief took a short breath and responded. "I have no idea," he said, reloading his Assault Rifle. Just then, an Elite walked out of the room. "How?!" Washington screamed. Sarge sprayed a few shotgun shells into the Elite and it fell down. Sarge walked over and fired shells into his head. Once he ran out of shells, he started to bash the Elite's skull in with the butt of the Shotgun.

He walked over to Sarge and grabbed his shoulder. "Easy Sarge," he said. "I think you got it. Calm down!" Sarge threw his hand off his shoulder. "Don't tell me to calm down!" he screamed. "I am calm! Just freaked out! I didn't sign up for this!" The Chief let out a small laugh. "You didn't sign up," he said. "You volunteered." The sergeant grunted and reloaded. "Ok," he said, walking into the armory. "Let's pick up some new weaponry." His team piled into the room and scored around for weapons. "Hey, Sniper Rifle!" he heard Grif say. Church ran up and grabbed the Rifle. "Oh, what the fuck?!" Grif said. "Why do you even want the Sniper Rifle? You can't shoot shit anyway!" Church just grunted and shrugged. The Chief took a Rocket Launcher for himself and kept the Battle Rifle. All of a sudden, the Chief heard the humming of a Warthog's engine. "Get down!" he yelled, just as a Warthog drove past the door, spraying bullets inside. "Hey, Warthog!" Church said. "Hey, Grif!" Grif looked at the cobalt Spartan. "What?" he asked. "Shotgun." Church said. "Shotgun! Fuck!" Grif yelled. "Quiet down, you two!" the Chief said. "They might be back!"

The Chief ran out of the room, spotted the Warthog and fired a rocket as it came back down. The rocket collided with the Warthog. The Warthog rolled upwards and fell over, destroyed. The Chief placed the Launcher on his back and drew his Rifle, expecting survivors. "These troops are really tough." he grunted, still denying his theory. He turned around to walk back to the armory. "Ok ladies," he said. "Let's move out." The Spartans got up and walked out of the room. "The cryo-bay is down at the other end of the hallway," he said. "Let's go." He walked down the hall and stopped, seeing Hunters at the other end of the hall. "Fuck!" he hissed, flipping back to cover. "Luckly, they didn't see me." he grunted. "The Hunters are like the tanks of the Covenant army. They don't go down easy. When their brother in arms is killed, the other goes crazy. Cover me."

The Chief dived from cover, rolled and faced the Hunters. He fired a rocket in between the abominations, wounding one, but killing the other. "Fuck..." the Chief grunted, realizing his mistake. But something was wrong with this Hunter. He didn't go berserk. The Hunter looked down the corridor, in the Chiefs direction. The Chief knew he had fucked up and he'd be dead in a matter of seconds. But all the Hunter did was fire his Fuel Rod Cannon down the corridor. The Chief rolled out of the way and fired a trio of shredder rounds at the Hunter. The Hunter moved out of the way, leaving the Chief surprised. "Washington!" he called. "How about some help?!" Washington jumped from his cover and threw a Fragmentation Grenade.

The Hunter rolled out of the way, once again. "That thing's putting up a hell of a fight!" Grif yelled. "You're not kidding!" Church said. The Chief fired several more rounds at the massive beast. "Go to hell!" Sarge shouted, emerging from cover. All five Spartans were in the fight now and there was no way in hell they were backing down. "Distract that thing!" the Chief said. His team only nodded and kept firing at the Hunter. The Hunter started to pay attention to them, instead of the Chief. The Master Chief snuck behind the beast, as it charged his team. The Chief snuck up on it and jumped on it's back. The Hunter roared, trying to shake him off. He primed a Plasma Grenade, the only Covenant piece of hardware he'd found so far. He stuck it in the folds of the beast's armor. "Say hi to the Prophets for me!" he said, kicking off the Hunter and taking cover.

A few seconds later, he heard the grenade go off and he heard half a ton of Hunter come crashing to the deck. He emerged from his cover and saw that the Hunter was _most likely_ dead. He walked over to the corpse and kicked it. The corpse twitched, but didn't get back up. "What's going on here?" he asked himself. "Come on," he said. "We're almost to the cryo-bay." His crew nodded and they followed him towards the end of the corridor. They finally reached the door that led into the bay and he took cover by the door. He reloaded his weapon, just in case. He bashed the door open and was welcomed by a familiar sight. Chief Petty Officer Mendez. "CPO Mendez!" he said. The war torn soldier looked up. "Who are you, Spartan?" he asked, frowning. "Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117." The CPO nodded. His other Spartans came in and some muttered, "His name is John?" Grif spoke first. "Of course it is, dumbass." Grif said. The Chief sighed. "Ok men," he said, turning back to his men. "Our new objective is-" he was staring to say something, but that was when he saw something that horrified him. The Chief was about to relive hundreds of nightmares. The door to the cryo-bay opened and the Chief saw the first of many Infection Forms flood into the room.

A/N: Mwah ha ha ha. That's right, the Flood is on the ship. That's why the Elites, Brutes, and the Hunters were so hard to kill. So, in the next chapter, the Chief, Church, Grif, Sarge, Washington, and CPO Mendez will face countless Flood forms. Stay tuned! Also, please note that this takes place _AFTER _Halo 4.


	6. Chapter 5: The Flood

Chapter 5: The Flood

**I own squat. Bungie and 343 Industries takes all the credit. (Not for the story, just the game series.)**

The Chief was praying to God, if there was a God, that he was just in a nightmare. The Infection Forms were pouring into the room, and the Master Chief didn't even have to tell his team to open fire. "What the hell are those things?!" Grif screamed, firing at the infectious bastards. "They're called the Flood!" the Chief shouted over the drones of firing. "What the hell happened here, Chief Mendez?!" he asked, still firing. Mendez continued firing as he answered. "Hell if I know!" he said. "Something must of got us on the way here!" The Chief was facing his worst nightmare, for about the one thousandth time, and hopefully, the final time. If he could describe hell, this would be it.

"This is why the Elites and Brutes were disfunctional! They had been infected by the Flood!" he shouted. Just then, an Infection Form jumped onto Sarge's back. "Damn it!" the Chief said, running over to Sarge. He pressed the barrel of his Assault Rifle into the slimy bastard's "skin". "This may sting a little." he said, as he pulled the trigger. The Infection Form's "insides" blew across the back of Sarge's helmet. The Chief grabbed the dead form and tore it off the sergeant's back. "Jesus Christ!" Church said, firing his Battle Rifle. "The fuckers keep coming!" The Chief grunted as he started to kill the next wave of Infection Forms. "Get used to it Church," he said. "I've fought these night time terrors before." Grif continued firing at the now joining Carrier Forms. "This beats the monster in my closet!" he screamed over the fire.

"Stupid bastards!" Mendez said, firing with his Pistol. "Where did these things come from?! First it was the corrupt Brutes and Elites, now this!" Sarge fired several shells at the Carrier Forms. "If we survive this Grif," he said. "I'm gonna kill you." The Chief rolled his eyes. "No one's going to kill anybody!" The Chief stopped to reload, and listened to his team fire at the incoming Flood Forms. "When will these nasty fuckers stop?!" Washington screamed. "You still haven't gotten it, have you?" the Chief asked him. "They won't stop until they infect you, or until you kill them!" The Chief returned fire once again, and they stopped. The Flood just stopped. The Spartans and Mendez stopped firing. "Why did they stop?" Grif asked. "They're smart, the damn bastards," the Chief said. "They've either all been killed, or they've realized we've won, and they'll try to corner us somewhere else."

"Let's move out," the Chief said, getting ready to exit the bay. "Are you insane, sir?" Grif asked. The Chief looked at the orange Spartan. Even with the helmet on, Master Chief could still see the Spartan's fear. And he understood it. When he first encountered the Flood on Alpha Halo, at the so called "weapons cache", he'd been scared out of his mind. Of course, it got worse when 343 Guilty Spark found him, and took him to a Forerunner construct, called "the Library." Then, he was fighting the Flood from all sides. Of course, Cortana wasn't here to help him this time. Even without her, he still had a mission that he had hidden from the others. He had to get her chip back to Dr. Halsey, so she could "destroy" it.

That's what happened to all the AIs that would eventually go rampant. At least, he'd heard rumors about it, he didn't know if that was _actually_ what happened. Grif's voice snapped the Chief out of his thoughts. "Chief, are you insane, sir?" the Chief looked back at the Spartan. "We still have a mission Grif," he said. "We have to get off the _Spirit of Fire_, and kill everything that isn't human." Grif scoffed. "Screw your mission, Chief!" Grif said. "I'm not a part of this anymore!" CPO Mendez stepped up to the Spartan's face, and lightly slapped his helmet. "Stow that, Sergeant," he said. "Besides, the Chief is right. We have to get off this Flood infested ship, and destroy everything that isn't human."

"CPO Mendez?" he asked. Mendez looked aver at him. "Yes, Chief?" he asked. "Is there anyway to destroy the _UNSC Spirit of Fire_, without destroying anything in a mile radius?" The CPO shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Chief," he said, grimly. "Why do you ask?" The Chief met the CPO's eyes. "These soldiers," he started. "_My_ men, they have a home, less than a mile from here. Two bases in a box canyon." The CPO sighed. "Like I said Master Chief," he said. "There's no way to destroy this ship without destroying their bases. Unless, we can clear out the entire ship." The Chief thought for a moment. "We can try. Failure to contain the outbreak is _not _an option." Mendez nodded and gulped. "I understand." he said. The Chief turned back to his troops. "Ok," he started. "You heard the man. We start clearing out the ship."

"But Sir," Grif said. "What if we fail?" The Chief was really hating Grif's attitude at the moment. "Soldier," he said. "Failure. is. _NOT_. an. option. Think about your home. Millions of lives could be at stake. Think about Donut, Caboose, Simmons, Lopez, Tucker, Carolina, and all the others." Church laughed. "You're thinking about Caboose?!" he said, cracking up. "You've lost your marbles. Sir." The Chief stepped up to Church. "Have you got a better idea, soldier?" he asked. Church finally shook his head. "Then it's settled." he said, walking to the door. "Let's move ladies. On the double!" The Chief, his Spartans, and the CPO walked out of the cryo-bay, about to walk into hell.

The Chief looked around, convinced that the fight was no where near over. The Chief took the Rocket Launcher of his back, leaving it behind. There was _nothing_ that could slow them down. It wasn't possible. They needed to get off the ship, and kill everything. And they would. Even if it cost them their lives. The Chief picked up a spare Shotgun that was lying on the deck. He placed it on his back, and continued. His motion tracker started to show a red circle mass all around them. "Hostiles!" he said, readying his Rifle. "All around us! Get ready to fire!" The group got in a strategic formation, so they could face every direction the Flood could come from. Seconds later, a mixture of Infection Forms, Carrier Forms, and Infected Brutes and Elites began to swarm them.

The group opened fire on the newcomers. The Chief hit several Elites and Brutes, and downed them, but only for a limited amount of time. He primed a grenade, and lobbed it into the group of Flood Forms. The resulting explosion sent limbs flying in every direction. An Infection Form jumped onto the Chief's helmet, and attempted to get it off. The Chief struggled, trying to get a grip on the bastard. The Master Chief eventually got a grip on the infectious bastard's mushy skull-like structure, and squezzed down on it, crushing the form. "The bastard's aren't giving up!" Grif shouted. "We don't want them to give up!" the Chief said, reloading his Assault Rifle. "We want to exterminate them, idiot!"

He switched to his Shotgun, and opened fire on the Brutes and Elites. The Carrier Forms were lessening, but the Brutes and Elite Forms were rapidly increasing. "Chief, help!" he heard Grif's voice. He turned around, and saw that Grif had an Inection Form on his head. "Jesus!" he said, ripping it off, and killing it. He turned back to the Flood Forms that were assaulting them. He continued shooting at them, and lobbed a grenade in the process. The grenade went off, killing the forms that were already there. "I think they're gone." Grif said. Just then, two infected Hunters came around a corner. "Oh, 'I think they're gone.' You had to say something didn't you, Grif?!" Church said. The Hunters were made up of many Lekgolo worms. So, it was a difficult thought the Flood had infected every individual worm. "Supressing fire!" Sarge said, spraying the Hunters in Shotgun shells. The Chief did his part, switched back to his Assault Rifle and fired at the Hunter's vulnerable spots.

"So," Church said, coming shoulder-to-shoulder with the Master Chief. "You've faced these things before?" The Chief grunted, as he continued to fire. "Long story, Church." he said. "No time for that, now." All of a sudden, Grif shot Church by mistake. "Ow!" Church shouted. "What the fuck, Grif?!" Grif looked at Church. "Sorry!" he said. The Hunters were gone, hopefully. Church started to argue with Grif. "Stop, Church!" Grif said, waving his hands. "Red is Blue! Blue is Red!" Out of the corner of his eye, the Chief saw a "dead" Hunter raise his Fuel Rod Gun. The Chie snapped to the Hunter, but it was too late. The Fuel Rod Gun went off, sending glowing ball of green plasma energy to Grif's feet. "Ah, son of a bitch...!" he screamed, as he went flying. The Chief ran over to the Hunter before he could get up, and pumped a few rounds into his head. The Hunter fell back down, now dead.

The Chief went over to Grif, and looked at him. "He's hurt Chief," Church said. "He'll survive, but we need to get him help." The Chief sighed. "Well, let's try not to get killed any-" he was saying something, and then a bullet went through Washington's abdomen. Washington fell to the deck, knocked out. "Damn it!" the Chief said. "We're outnumbered!" All of a sudden, Mendez snapped towards he Chief. "Watch out!" he screamed. The Chief tried to turn, but it was too late. The Chief's shields were blown offline, and he felt his lower abdomen be pierced by a penetrator tentacle. The Chief groaned in pain, as the Infection Form struggled to tap his spine. The Chief ripped the form away, leaving the tip of the tentacle in. "Give me some biofoam, now!" he barked. He could feel the tip wriggling under the surface of his skin.

The CPO quickly opened up a medpac, and handed the Chief some biofoam. The biofoam would keep the tip from moving for at least a half hour, but the Chief needed immediate medical assistance. The Chief filled the already bleeding wound with biofoam, and took a breath. "Ok," he said, standing up straight. "Our plan has failed. We get out of here, and we call for reinforcements." The CPO nodded, along with Church and Sarge. "What about them?" Church asked. "We can't leave them to die." The Chief shook his head. "No Church," he said. "You are right. I need a way to carry the fallen soldiers, and I need it fast." The CPO stepped forward. "There are tables in the mess hall, you could drag them on that." The Chief nodded. "Then get me that." he said. "Then we get out of here, and hopefully, the Flood won't follow us."

A/N: I apologize if this chapter was too short for you're liking. No one's going to die. I just spoiled it. You know what? Just ignore that. Pretend it's not there. Next chapter, Operation Storm _Spirit of Fire_ or whatever will come to an end, and that will usher in a new act for this story. Stay tuned.


	7. Chapter 6: Lone Wolf

Chapter 6: Lone Wolf

**I Don't Own Halo or Red Vs. Blue. All rights go to Bungie, 343 Industries and Rooster Teeth.**

A/N: For those of you who have played Halo: Reach, yes, I know the chapter is the title of the last campaign mission of that game. Minor coincidence. But anyway, if you're wondering who's going to die, you'll just have to find out. Also, this is going to be a short chapter, just saying.

The Master Chief, CPO Mendez, Church, and Sarge dragged their unconscious friends out of the bridge's broken window. Almost immediately, more of the Flood greeted them, poring out of the ship's inner hull. "Don't these things take a hint?!" Church said, firing his Sniper Rifle at them. "The Flood don't take 'hints' Church," he said. "They're just hell bent on infecting you." Sarge opened fire on the Infection Forms. "We got that part, numbnuts," he said. The Chief was starting to feel the burning pain in his abdomen again. It felt like someone reached into his gut, poked around with a sword, and cut everything up.

He grunted in pain, as he felt the tip of the tentacle just barely start to move again. "You ok, Chief?" Church asked. "I'm fine," he lied. "We just have to get back to base, and radio for medical assistance." The Chief reloaded his Battle Rifle, and continued firing at the incoming Flood. "So, where did you encounter these things, Chief?" Mendez asked. The Chief continued firing rounds at the Infection Forms that joined the fight. "After the fall of Reach," he started. "The Covenant found us, and attacked the _Pillar of Autumn_, and the ship was overrun, and we had to escape. Cortana and I found this ringworld that we eventually found out it was called Halo. Captain Keyes found this "weapons cache", only it wasn't a weapon cache. When he found it, he released these things. The Flood."

"This isn't the time for stories, Chief!" Church yelled, over the sound of gunfire. Just then, it got really quiet. "Is it just me," Sarge said, reloading his shotgun. "Or did they back down?" Almost immedialty after he said that, two pairs of infected Hunters came out of the ship. "What the hell is this?!" Church asked, raising his Sniper Rifle. The Chief narrowed his eyes on one of the Hunters. "It's their last resort." he said, opening fire. The Hunters blocked the bullets with their shields, and moved closer. "Don't let them get too close!" CPO Mendez shouted. The Chief rolled to the left, and threw a Frag in between two of the Hunters. The Hunter stared at the explosive device, and blocked the explosion with his shield.

"Church!" the Chief called. "Yeah?" he asked, while firing his Sniper Rifle. "You're not going to get anywhere with the Sniper!" he said, lowering his weapon a bit, and turning to face his teammate. "Here, take this!" He kicked an Assault Rifle over to the cobalt Spartan, and he traded his Sniper for it. "Thanks!" he called. One of the Hunters raised their Fuel Rod Gun, and fired it. The blast knocked the Chief off his feet, and knocked his weapon away. The Hunter bounded over to the fallen Spartan, and roared as he brought his foot up. The Hunter was just about to lower his foot, when Sarge blasted the beast in the back with his Shotgun. The Hunter stumbled, but didn't fall over. It turned around to face Sarge, and raised it's shield. "Oh, fuck m-" Sarge started to curse himself, as the Hunter slammed the Spartan with his shield.

The Chief picked up his Battle Rifle, and got up. He ran over to the Hunter, and jumped on his back. The Hunter tried to shake him off, just like the last one had done. The Master Chief lowered his Battle Rifle, and fired a few rounds into the hunter's exposed flesh. The Hunter stumbled, and the Chief took his chance. He took out his last Plasma Grenade, primed it, and stuck it underneath the armored monster's armor. The Chief kicked off the Hunter's wounded back, and fell into the sand. The Hunter turned around to attempt to kill the Chief, but as he did, the grenade went off, killing it again. He ran over to check Sarge's body, and discovered he was unconscious. "I'll drag his body with the others," Church said, running over. "Cover me!"

The Chief nodded, and fired at the enraged Hunter, coming to avenge his fallen brother's death. The Hunter shielded himself from the fire, but didn't stop running towards the Chief. He rammed into the Chief with his shield, sending him flying back. He hit the hull of the _Spirit of Fire_, the back of his head hitting first. The Chief fell headfirst into the sand, and just laid there for a minute. "Chief!" he heard Mendez's voice, which sounded so far away. "This isn't naptime! Move your ass!" He struggled to get up, and fell back down. "Oh, for the love of-" he heard Mendez start to say something, but then he stopped. A few seconds later, the Chief felt Mendez helping him up. The Chief finally got up, and grabbed his Battle Rifle. "Status?" he asked the CPO. "One down," Mendez started. "Three highly infectious bastards to go."

"Good," he said, reloading. "Let's keep it that way." His thoughts were interrupted by Church's voice. "Hey, I hate to interrupt the after action report, but," he yelled. "Cover me, you fucks! That's an order!" He was pretty pissed with Church's request, but he couldn't blame him for his attitude, if not, they were on the brink of death. He ran over to the Hunter that was stalking over to Church, and opened fire on it. The Hunter shrugged off the rounds, and continued walking over to Church. The Chief grunted, and ran over to the Hunter, and ran up his back. He grabbed hold of the Hunter's armored head, and brought him down in the sand. The Hunter tried to get up, and the Chief tried to stay on the Hunter's back. He took out his last Frag, and last grenade tatal, and pulled the pin, and dropped it.

He flipped off the Hunter's back, and watched the fireworks after the landing. The Hunter did not get up, and Church ran towards the ship's broken window. "I'll be right back!" he called, upon entering the ship. "Where in the fuck is he going?!" Mendez shouted. "Hell if I know," the Chief said, dodging another Hunter's attack. "But we're on our own for the time being." The CPO scoffed. "That's a nice change of pace." The Chief rolled away, and got up, opening fire on a Hunter. The Hunter fired his last energy beam from the Fuel Rod Gun, then dropped it in the sand. The Master Chief and the Hunter started to go toe-to-toe.

"Let's see what you got!" he said, using the massive monster's shield as a walkway. He ran up the shield, and kickflipped off the monster's head. He landed in the monster's path, and was about to attack again, when he heard Church's voice. "Hey, asshole!" The Hunter and the Chief turned in Church's direction. Church was holding a Rocket Launcher. "Oh, shit!" Mendez said, stopping to look at the Spartan with the Rocket Launcher. "Let's end this game with a bang!" Church said, firing his rocket. The Hunter reacted fast. He raised his shield, and deflected the projectile back to Church. "Oh, son of a-" Church cursed himself as the projectile collided with his body. The resulting explosion sent Church's body flying upwards, and he fell forward down into the sand.

The Chief turned back to the Hunter, and fired his Assault Rifle at it. The Hunter deflected the shots, sending one of them into Mendez's abdomen. Mendez fell, being knocked unconscious like the others. The Chief fired until his magazine was empty, and threw it away, then took out his Shotgun. The Hunter walked up to him, and was about to strike him, when something that pulsated blue landed on the back of his head. "Hell yeah!" he heard Donut's voice. "Three points, you dirty whore!" The Chief looked up, to see Donut standing on top of a rock. The Plasma Grenade went off, killing the Hunter. The other one was pissed, and fired his Fuel Rod Gun at Donut, blowing him off the rock. All of a sudden, the Chief felt a lot of pain in his abdomen, and he knew he needed a doctor, and now, if he were to survive.

The Chief raised his Shotgun, and started firing at the remaining Hunter. Since they'd been infected by the Flood, they've become meanier and tougher than hell. The Chief got lucky, and fired a slug dead center through the Hunter's faceplate, killing it instantly. He dropped his Shotgun and went to drag the bodies onto the table. Five minutes later, he was dragging them across the boiling hot sand, and was getting exhausted by the minute. After five minutes, he was on the verge of collapse. He let go of the straps he used to drag the table as he fell. His head hit the sand, and he looked up, trying to crawl. It took him five seconds just to move each hand in an attempt to crawl. He finally was ready to pass out, when he looked up. He didn't know if he was beginning to hallucinate from the heat, but he could have sworn he saw a familiar female figure. He reached up with his hand, but before he could do or say anything, he blacked out.

A/N: I hope this chapter was somewhat satisfactory. The next chapter may be longer, I haven't decided yet. Stay tuned.


	8. Chapter 7: Revival

Chapter 7: Revival

**I Don't Own Halo or Red Vs. Blue. All rights go to Bungie, 343 Industries and Rooster Teeth.**

A/N: Please, don't get confused with the chapter title. This doesn't mean someone who has died in the past is coming back. Well, at least not yet. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

For the Master Chief, the pain of waking up after a life saving surgery felt good. And bad. Good and bad. Bad because the pain in his lower abdomen hurt like a bitch. Basically, he got the feeling that he wasn't in Blood Gulch anymore. He didn't know where he was. All he knew was that he'd just woken up, after having surgery to remove the tip of the Infection Form's tentacle. Right now, he was resting. And because of his well hearing, he could tell there was another person in the room with him, he could tell because of hearing breathing that wasn't coming from him.

He let out a raspy breath. "Where am I?" he asked the other person in the room. "So," the other person said. It was a female. "You're awake?" He groaned. "Yes, I'm awake," he grunted in pain. "We've established the fact that I'm awake. Now, where am I?" He heard the lady get up. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "Fan-God-Damn-tastic," he said, beginning to get irritated. "I just got surgery. And I asked you a question. Where the hell am I?" It was just now that he realized that there was a bandage over his eyes. "Why is there a bandage over my eyes?" he asked, running his finger tips over the fabric. "You were busted up really well," the woman said, her voice sounding more and more familiar.

"And, well, your eyes need sometime to rest. And we are in a room with really bright lights." The Chief groaned. "Where. Am. I?" he asked, impatiently. "Oh, where are my manners?" she asked. "You're aboard the _UNSC_ _Infinity_." The Chief felt his heart skip a beat. "Are my friends ok?" he asked. "Your friends?" she asked. "You mean the bodies you were dragging across the desert?" He let out a gulp. _Bodies? Just bodies? Were they dead?_ "Yes, sir," she said. He let out a sigh of relief. "Your friends are well. The majority of them that is." The Chief held his breath. "What does that mean?" he asked. "It means that CPO Mendez is still in urgent care, and he may not survive his wounds."

The Chief struggled to remember. _There were two pairs of Hunters, and he shot Mendez by accident? _Yes, that was right. He felt guilty, for causing Mendez's near death. "Take this off," he said, pawing the bandage over his eyes. "I want to see where I am." He waited for his visitor to answer. "Uh, sir," she started. "That's not a good idea." He let out a grunt of impatienence. "I don't care!" he hissed. "Please, get this thing off me!" He heard the lady scoff. "Wow, you think you'd be nicer to the lady who saved your life." He laughed. "What did _you_ do the surgery?" he asked. "Well, no, but-" she started to say something, but he interrupted. "Then you _didn't_ save my life." he said, feeling the bandage over his eyes. "Take this thing off!"

"Sir, I told you that's not-" She started to say something, but he sat up. "To hell if it's not a good idea. Take. The. Bandage. Off!" She let out a sigh, and he felt her hands on his face. Seconds later, the bandage was removed, and bright light flooded his eyes. He groaned from the pain of the light blinding him. "See?" she asked, standing back. "Told you it wasn't a good idea." It was the first time the Chief got a look of his surroundings. He was in a room, part of a medical bay, probably. And he was in the hospital bed, and there were bandages wrapped around his abdomen. "Cassie, I hope you're not pes-" someone started to say something as she walked in, but stopped upon seeing that her patient was awake.

"John," Dr. Catherine Halsey said. "So you're awake." John grunted. "Dr. Halsey," he said. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" The good doctor gave a rare smile. "You owe me a thank you," she stated, sitting down. "I performed your surgery." He sat up, and groaned in pain. "Try not to strain your muscles dear." Dr. Halsey said. "Yes, mom," he said, mockingly. "I'm not your mother." she said. "Yes, I know, but you're the only "mother" that I ever knew." John looked over at Cassie, who gave him a light smile. "I'm sorry," he said, gesturing to her. "But have we met? You look _and_ sound familiar." Cassie let out a small laugh. "Funny," she said. "I could have said the same thing. When I found you in the desert, even in your armor, you looked familiar to me."

"Are you sure we haven't met?" he asked. "I'm sure," Cassie said. "But who knows? We could have met in a past life. I sometimes feel like a ghost inhabiting this body." The good doctor scoffed. "But you're not, Cassie, dear." she said. "But, Mom, I just feel like a ghost." she said. "Cassie, I'm not you're mother, either." she said. "Yes, but you're my guardian." she said. "Not really the same difference." John said. The two ladies looked at him. "A mother is the person who physically gave birth to you," he said. "A guardian is a man/woman who adopted you." The two just looked at him. "Intelligent, aren't you?" Cassie asked. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but..." his voice trailed off as he spoke.

"So, where are my friends at?" he asked. "Resting, after their treatments." Dr. Halsey said. "CPO Mendez may not make it through. How are you feeling?" The Chief grunted. "Fantastic." he growled. "Are you sure that you are ok?" Cassie asked him. "I'm fine," he said. "Really. The aftermath of the surgery is the only thing that hurts." The Chief looked around the room, for a capsule that carries the MJOLNIR Armor when he/other Spartans weren't using it. "Where's my armor?" he asked. "It's put away." Dr. Halsey said flatly. "Is that it?" he asked. "That's it," she said. "Why do you ask?" He shrugged, getting out of the bed. "Ah, ah, ah!" Dr. Halsey said. "Get back in there!" He narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "I'm. Fine." he said. He now noticed that he was wearing the bottom layer of the protective gel layer of his armor.

"Whatever," Dr. Halsey said. "Just try not to strain yourself." All of a sudden, Cassie keeled over in pain. "Cassie!" the doctor said, looking over to her other "patient". "Are you ok?" After a few seconds, Cassie looked back up. "I'm fine," she said, breathing heavily. "Just getting those flashbacks again." John cocked his eyebrow. "Flashbacks?" he asked. "Yes John," Doctor Halsey said. "Flashbacks. Cassie claims that she sometimes gets flashbacks of memories that don't belong to her." John stared at the lady, who looked his age, but maybe younger. "Where's my armor at?" he asked again. "What does it matter?" Dr. Halsey asked him, looking up again. "I need to get Cortana's-" he started, but Halsey interrupted him.

"Cortana's data chip isn't in your helmet anymore, John." she said. "What?" he asked, shocked. "Why?" The Doctor cleared her throat. "Because," she said. "The UNSC took possession of it. You know how it works. After every AI begins to fall into rampancy, their data chip is retrieved by ONI, then taken to a top UNSC facility." The Chief stared at the doctor in disbelief. "What do they do with the data chips?" he asked. "How should I know?" she asked. "All I know is that they are taken to a UNSC facility, and they're never seen again. Why do you want to know?" Cassie cleared her throat. "Who's Cortana?" she asked. "She was an AI," John said. "She was _my_ AI. And now her data chip is gone, and I can't complete my mission."

Dr. Halsey eyed him. "And what is your mission?" she asked. He turned to the doctor. "After the events of _Forward Unto Dawn_, I promised her that I'd find you, and I'd get you to rewrite her neural brain map, so she could live longer." Dr. Halsey nodded. "I understand, John," she said. "There's just one problem with that." John eyed the doctor. "What is the problem?" he asked. "I could have done that. But I would have become a UNSC fugitive." John stared at her in disbelief. "Why?" he asked. "Face it John," she said. "All AIs have to die sometime. And it was Cortana's time. I'm very sorry." John looked down in defeat. No, it couldn't be over. "Doctor Halsey," he said, looking back at her. "Where's the facility at?" Dr. Halsey thought for a moment. "It's on Earth. Located in one of the most coldest places on the planet. Antarctica. Why do you ask?"

"We go there," he said. "And we find Cortana's data chip." She shook her head. "That's out of the question John." she said. He narrowed his eyes at the Doctor. "We go, and find her chip!" The doctor just stared at him. "You are hell bent of doing that, aren't you?" she asked. He just stared at her. "Fine," she said. "But first, you need to recover from your injuries." He looked at her. "And then you'll take me there?" he asked. She nodded. "Fine," he said. "I'll rest up." He sat back down on the bed, and rested his head on the pillow. "So, my squad is ok?" he asked. "Yes, John!" the doctor said. "Everyone except Mendez has pulled through."

"Well," Dr. Halsey said, getting up. "Everything seems in order here. Try to get some rest, John." And with that, she walked out of the room. John heard Cassie get up, and sit down next to his bed. "Thank you." he said. "For what?" she asked. He turned her head to face her. "For finding me, for getting me back here." She smiled. "Oh, that," she said. "It's no problem." John now noticed that she had longish hair, similar to Cortana's hair style. And she had a few freckles on either side of her nose. "Get some rest." she said, getting up. "I'll be around. Once you're up and getting around better, I'm out of here." He closed his eyes, and welcomed sleep.

A/N: I'm not fully sure on how long this chapter was, but I hope it was satisfactory. So, who do you think this new "Cassie" character is? Her back story? Her flashbacks? I'd love to hear your opinions on this, go ahead and message me, review this chapter, whatever you want to do if you want to give your opinion. You DON'T have to give your opinion, I'm just interested in what you think. I haven't decided how long this story will be yet, but it will not end here. So, stay tuned, and I'm out!


	9. Chapter 8: Ghosts, Dust, and Echoes

Chapter 8: Ghosts, Dust, and Echoes

**I Don't Own Halo or Red Vs. Blue. All rights go to Bungie, 343 Industries and Rooster Teeth.**

A/N: Starting this chapter, the story is going to take over multiple POV's. But, the story will remain on the Chief, and his quest to get Cortana's chip back. So, with that in mind, enjoy the chapter.

"That's what I'm saying man," Sergeant Fowler said to his partner. "These UNSC guys just brought us this chip, and told us to put it into storage. His partner, Private Dean, laughed. "Whatever," he said, pushing the cart towards the door. "Let's just get the job done." Sergeant Fowler grunted. "What is so secret about this place?" he asked. "We shouldn't delve on the secrets of this facility." Private Dean said. "Yeah, you're right." he said. They stopped, and walked to the door. The two took out their keycards. "On three," his partner said. "Ok, one, two, three." The two soldiers inserted their keycards into the slots, opening the door.

They walked into the storage room, and wheeled the cart to the back of the room. "So," Private Dean said. "What's the deal with this chip?" Sergeant Fowler shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I just want to get my shift over with." Private Dean raised his eyebrow, putting the chip into the storage slot. "Why?" he asked. "What do you have planned?" The sergeant smiled a smile full of mischief. "I'm going to go home and bone my wife." The private laughed. "Cool," he said. "Have fun with that." The sergeant smiled, and opened his mouth to say something, when his head exploded. Literally exploded.

...

_NS_

The Spartan in light brown armor fired his Sniper Rifle, blowing the soldier's head apart. The other soldier took evasive action, and dodged the other three shots that the Spartan fired. The Spartan cursed himself for not being quick enough, and flipped over to the left, and reloaded his Sniper Rifle. "Go ahead in," he said. "And finish the job." He heard the two golden Elites behind decloak themselves, and jump down from the ledge. He heard the other soldier start to scream, and open fire on the Elites. Two seconds later, nothing. Just silence.

He jumped down from the ledge, and put the Sniper Rifle on his back. "Good job, my friends," he said. "You guys did good." The two Elites turned to the Spartan. "We still don't appreciate you killing our comrades in the war." The Spartan laughed. "Oh, suck it!" he grunted. "You're lucky I don't kill you right now!" The Spartan known as "NS", looked around the room. "Is this the data chip?" he asked, pointing to the storage unit. "Yes, No-" The Spartan interrupted him. "Don't say my name!" he shouted. "I'm already dead! I should be dead!" The Elite activated his Energy Sword. "Well, if you like, I could kill you right now." The Spartan laughed. "Nope, I'm already dead, bitch! I'm just possessed! Guess the joke's on you!"

"Stop fighting, you two!" the other Elite said. "I'm in charge here!" he said to the Elite. "Whatever, boss." he said. "Ok, looks like the data chip is locked in." the Spartan said. "We'll come back tomorrow. Let's get out of here, before security comes."

_John-117_

John shoveled a mouthful of the soup into his mouth. "So," Grif said. "How do you feel?" The Chief looked up at Grif. "Like I told Cassie and Doctor Halsey," he said. "I feel fine. I just hurt from the procedure. How's Church, and the others?" he asked. "Their around," Grif said. "They're walking around fine by themselves now." The Chief nodded. It was his second day in the hospital, and he was guessing that the others back at Blood Gulch didn't know where they were. "So, was the operation on the _Spirit of Fire_ successful?" Grif asked. "By my terms?" he asked. "Not at all. But at least we survived." Grif nodded. "Well, there _is_ that."

Cassie was somewhere else on the ship, and he assumed that she was always with Dr. Halsey. "So, what happened to your armor, Chief?" he asked. "Dr. Halsey said it had been put up." he said. "Assuming I know what that means, it's somewhere on the ship." The UNSC _Infinity_ was currently orbiting Earth, and the staff wasn't about to let them off the ship. The Chief could relate to that, considering they were wounded. "When did you wake up?" he asked Grif. "Just yesterday." he said. "I asked the doctors if I could go see you, but they declined. Said you were resting, and you wouldn't want to be disturbed."

"They were right," he said. "Yesterday was a stressful day." Grif nodded. "No doubt about that." John continued eating his soup, and listening to the rhythmic tune of his heartbeat. "Are you ok, Sir?" he asked. "Of course I'm ok," he said. "Why do you ask?" Grif looked at him. "You just look really calm." John looked up at him, and put his spoon down. "Grif," he said. "This is the first time in days that I've had time to just sit and think. Of course I'm calm." Grif nodded. He took another spoonful of soup, and swallowed. To be honest with himself, he was enjoying himself. Minus the fact knowing that they took Cortana's chip away from him. _Why am I feeling like this? She was just an AI!_

He banished the thought from his mind, just as Dr. Halsey entered the room. "How is my patient doing this morning? Or evening, I don't know what time it is." The Spartan shrugged. "I feel fine, Dr. Halsey," he said. The doctor looked at Grif. "Church, right?" she asked. The Spartan shook his head. "It's Grif actually," he said. "Hello doctor." She nodded. "Um, John would you mind coming with me?" she asked him. "I have something to show you." The Spartan looked up at the doctor. "Um, sure... I guess?" he said, finishing his soup. "Can I come?" Grif asked. "I don't see why not." Doctor Halsey said. He threw back his covers, and got out of bed.

He stretched, and put on a pair of boots on that were by his hospital bed. "Well?" he asked. "Let's go." Doctor Halsey, John, and Grif left the hospital room, and started walking down the corridor. "So, where is it that we're going exactly?" John asked. "My lab." the doctor said. "Why?" he asked, impatiently. "Are you always impatient?" Doctor Halsey asked, irritated. "You'll just have to wait and see." The Spartan rolled his eyes, and continued to follow. He walked past a door, and he snuck a glance into it. Inside, he saw a middle-aged man, hooked up to a dozen of needles, an IV and other stuff. It was Mendez.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "He's hanging on, John," Doctor Halsey said. "He'll probably be fine." He nodded, and continued following the doctor. They finally reached a door, and she turned around to face John. "Listen," she said. "I want you to know that this is only the first stage of development, and you will be the first to use it." The Spartan raised his eyebrow. "Use what?" he asked. "Find out." she said, as she opened the door. The group walked in, and John snuck a glance to his left, and saw Cassie at work at a computer. "Why is Cassie here?" he whispered. "Not that I have anything against her, but..." His voice trailed off. "Oh, you're curious about that?" she asked. "Cassie has mad computer skills. The best I've ever seen, actually."

"It's true." Cassie said, as she typed away on the keyboard. "Who's that?" Grif asked. "She's the girl that found us in the desert." he told Grif. "Thank her for finding you, otherwise you'd be dead." He nodded. Doctor Halsey walked over to Cassie's computer station. "is everything ready, dear?" she asked. "Yes, Doctor." Cassie said. "Very good." Doctor Halsey said. She walked over to a wall, that John could barely see a electric panel on it. She placed her hand on it, and a computer voice said, "Welcome, Catherine Halsey." The wall then opened up, revealing a cabinet of some sort. The cabinet turned around, revealing a MJOLNIR armored suit. "This is what you wanted to show me?" John asked. "This," Doctor Halsey said. "Is the Mark VII MJOLNIR Armor."

"You're beautiful." John whispered. "Um, thanks?" Doctor Halsey said. "I was talking to the armor." he said. "Anyway," she said. "After the fall of Reach, I began working on a future prototype for the MJOLNIR Armor, and this is when this idea was conceived." He stared at the armor, in awe. "So, the armor comes complete with a doubled energy shield, two armor ability slots, and total "seating" for two AI units." He took a breath of awe, and stared up at the armor. "When do I wear it?" he said. "When we go to retrieve Cortana's data chip." John turned to the doctor. "You were serious about your promise?" he asked. "Of course I was." she said.

"Then when can we go out there?" he asked. "Whenever you feel up to it." she said. "Ok, then a week from today?" he asked. She nodded. "That's fine with me." she said. He nodded. "Good." Grif cleared his throat. "We're are you guys going?" The Chief looked at him. "To Earth," he said. "To Antarctica." Grif just stared at me. "Why would you go to Antarctica?" he asked. "It's cold as hell!" He nodded. "Yes, we know," he said. "But I have a mission to accomplish there." Grif continued to stare. "Why?" he asked. "The UNSC took possession of my AI data chip, and I'm getting it back." He nodded. "Ok," he said. "I guess that makes sense."

...

_NS_

The light brown Spartan watched the soldier through the Sniper scope. A gurgled, slurred voice came to his brain. "No," he said. "I don't think they're aware of my, excuse me, _our_ plan. Everthing is going according to the plan." He held his breath as he looked through the scope. "Cover me." he said to his allies. He pressed a button on his suit, and the Active Camoflauge turned on. He dropped down from the ledge. "Who's there?!" the soldier called out. _Damn it_, the Spartan cursed himself. _He heard me_. "Nothing," the soldier said. "Just cold air messing with me. Stupid cold air!"

The soldier activated his radio as the cloaked Spartan stalked him. "Yes Sir," he said. "Oh thank God! I'll be there as soon as I can!" The soldier turned off his radio, and turned around, and the Spartan turned off the Active Camo. "Hello, Mate!" he said, as he knocked the soldier out with his Sniper Rifle. The Spartan dragged the body into the corner, and waited while he cleaned his Rifle. Finally he came to. "Ah! What happened?" he asked. The Spartan got up, and got his Rifle ready. "Ok," he said. "So this is how this is going to work. I'm going to give you a question, you're going to give me an answer. One question, one answer. If I don't get the answer I don't like, we have a problem. And if we have a problem, then _you_ have a problem. Understand?"

"What?" he asked. "Why does your voice sound so weird?" The Spartan took out his handgun, and shot the soldier in the knee. "I told you that I'm giving the question! Not you, _me_!" he said, as the soldier screamed out in pain. "Now how do I open the-" He started to speak when his radio buzzed. "Right," he continued, looking back at him. "How do I open the storage unit?" His radio buzzed, and he sighed. "Yes, hello?" he said. "Yes, this is him." he said. "Spartan-117? The Master Chief? You want me to assassinate the Chief? Yes, I think I can do that." His radio clicked off. "Ok, well I don't have time to torture you, so I'm going to kill you." The soldier looked up. "Wait wh-" The Spartan raised his Pistol as he spoke, and blew his head apart.

...

_John-117_

"You okay, Church?" the Master Chief asked. "Yeah," he said. "After they moved me to a new robot body, I was fully functional." he said. "Good, because for my next mission," he started. "I'll need all the help I can get." Church cocked his head in the Chief's direction. "Why?" he asked. "Where are we going?" The Chief cleared his throat. "Antarctica." he said. "Fuck that!" Church said. "What did you say?" the Master Chief asked. "I said fuck that!" Church said. "I've been stationed at Sidewinder before. A, it's really fuckin' cold. B, everyone there except for me died."

The Chief sighed. "Fine," he said. "We'll find some one else to replace you." Church let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" he said. "Whatever." John said. "Well, hello dirtbags!" The Chief turned around to see Sarge run into the room. "And a fine hello to you, madam." Donut, who had just woken up, looked at Sarge. "Screw you!" he said. "It's light red!" The Chief decided to play along. "Are you referring to your pink armor?" he asked. "It's lightish red!" he screamed. His heartbeat started to rise. "Okay, Donut." he said. "Calm down. Sarge, stop screwing with him." The sergeant just nodded. "Thank you." the Chief said. "Look, I'm going to go rest. Try not to kill each other!" The Chief ran out of the room, and back to his room. He threw back his covers, and got in the bed. He placed his head on the pillow, and fell asleep.

A/N: So, what did you guys think of that chapter? What do you think about our mysterious new character, the light brown Spartan dubbed "NS"? Any opinions? Well, anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, so stay tuned for more.


	10. Chapter 9: Competition

Chapter 9: Competition

**I Don't Own Halo or Red Vs. Blue. All rights go to Bungie, 343 Industries and Rooster Teeth.**

The Chief waited in the docking bay for the Falcon dropship to dock with the UNSC _Infinity_. After radioing to Blood Gulch, the UNSC sent a dropship out there to collect the Reds and Blues. "So, your friends are Spartans like you?" He heard someone to his left ask him a question. "Oh, it's you," he said, turning to greet Cassie. "No, they're not like me. They're some random, very weird soldiers that I encountered, after the Cortana 'died'." She looked at him. "What did your AI look like?" she asked. The Chief thought for a moment. He remembered _everything_ about her. Every curve, he even remembered her voice.

"She was "blue-skinned"," he said. "She had black hair, like yours, only shorter. She's hard to desribe. She never wore clothes, there were black or purple stripes that ran over her, ahem, intimate parts. Why do you ask?" She just looked at him for a minute. "I was just curious." she said. Her tone sounded, suspicious, like she was hiding something. The ship finally docked, and the Chief walked towards the ship. The dropship opened up, and Simmons was the first one who walked out. "Well, time to welcome the party." Church said. They walked over to greet the group. "Simmons." The maroon-colored Spartan nodded to him.

Lopez, the Red Team's robot was next. "Buenas dias." he said, casually. The Chief nodded politely to the Spanish robot. Tucker was next down the ramp. "Hey, Tucker." Church greeted his teammate. Tucker nodded to Church, took out his combat knife and stabbed him in the knee. "Ow!" Church said. "What the hell was that for, you asshole?!" Tucker pulled the knife out and sheathed it. "Stick around for episode two of 'knife buddies'!" he said. "Bastard." Church grumbled, as Tucker walked towards Cassie. "Helloooooo," he said. "where has a pretty babe like yourself been all my life?" Cassie smiled a sweet smile, and gently smacked his helmet

"What the hell?" Tucker said, rubbing his helmet. "Why would you do that?" Cassie just laughed and walked away, muttering the word "pervert." The Chief walked over to Tucker. "Don't try that." Tucker asked. "Try what?" John asked. "Asking a really, really hot chick out." Tucker said. "I'll keep that in mind." he said. He walked back to the dropship, where the last of the crew were getting off: Caboose and Carolina. The dropship lifted off, and took off through the hanger. "So, why do they call you Carolina again?" Caboose asked the light blue female. "Because," Carolina said. "That's the state I'm from you idiot! Why do they call you Caboose?"

Michael ignored the question. "Which Carolina?" he asked. Carolina turned to the Chief, and pointed to Caboose. "I swear to God," she said. "I'm going to kill this kid!" The Chief shook his head. "No you won't," he said. "Calm down." He had been on the _Infinity_ for a week now, and they had moved the Chief and his troops out of the medical bay's rooms, and into the vacant marine quarters they had to spare. "Why do they call you Caboose?" Carolina asked him again. "That's just his last name, Carolina." he said. "It's still the dumbest last name I've ever heard." Tucker ran over to the three. "I agree," he said. "Someone naming their kid "Caboose" is pretty sad."

_NS_

The light brown Spartan walked into a Flood infested corridor. He walked past the Flood Comabt Forms, and when he did, they threatened to attack. He turned to them, and raised his hand at them. They gurgled at him, as if they were offended by his actions and they backed away. He walked down the rest of the corridor, and walked into a dome-shaped room that featured a gigantic mass of fleshy goo. The mass of flesh came to life, and looked his way. "You have failed us, NS." The Spartan got down on one knee, and kneeled. "Forgive me, Gra-" The mass of flesh interrupted him. "You haven't earned my race's honor, you abomination of nature! You call me master!"

"Sorry, you little shit." he grumbled silently. "Anyway," the Master said. "I sent you, and some of my finest troops to that horrid UNSC vessel, and you failed to capture the target." The Spartan looked up. "The Demon in green armor got away." he grumbled. "I promise you, it won't happen again." The Master gurgled. "I hope it shouldn't," it said. "For it it shall happen again, I will send you back to your grave. Do you want that?" The Spartan grumbled. "You should have left me dead, Master." The Master "stared" at him. "Do you want to be dead?" it asked him. "No, Master." The Master gurgled again.

"Very well," it said. "Take four of my finest legions, and find the one in green." The Spartan rose, and walked out of the dome. Nothing needed to be said, he just needed the to leave with the four handpicked legions at the Master supplied him with. He once again walked the shortest walk down the longest hall. He walked outside into the freezing temperature of the ice planet, Sidewinder. "Do you think the Master's plan will work?" one of the Infected Elites asked the Spartan. He turned to his troops. "Of course it will," he said. "Once the green one is killed, and infected, the galaxy will belong to the Flood!"

_John-117_

"Grifball!" the announcer shouted, beginning the first round. The Chief, the Reds and Blues were doing a combat simulation, kind of like old school soccer, called Grifball. The Chief was playing on the Blue Team, although that meant the Blues had one player more than the Reds. The Chief ran in the Reds direction, hell bent on getting the ball. The group was training in old Mark V MJOLNIR Armor, that would convert to orange upon collecting the ball. Something about the "humiliation" of being Grif. The weapons that they used where the Covenant Gravity Hammer and Energy Sword, but the UNSC reverse engineered the weapons for safety purposes, and now they were just stun weapons.

For the first time in a couple weeks, the Chief was actually having _fun_. He was usually in a saddened tone, relating to Cortana's destruction. But somehow, the Reds and Blues had unlocked his rare display of happiness. The Chief hadn't known what happiness was in at least twenty or thirty years. Simmons pushed in front of Sarge, and grabbed the ball, instantly turning orange. The Reds started to protect Simmons as he raced for the Blue "flag" stand. The Chief switched to the Energy Sword, and he waited. He watched as his teammates charged forward, being struck down by the enemy's Gravity Hammers. The Chief waited, and finally saw his chance. He lunged forward, and brought his Energy Sword forward, hitting Grif.

The strike sent an electronic pulse through Grif's armor, temporarily shutting his armor down, which the Gravity Hammer did the same to the armor. "Oh, you little bitch!" he yelled at the Chief. "It's a legitimate strategy!" he said, running off towards the seperated Red team. Simmons jumped up and attempted to reach the goal. The Chief jumped up, and grabbed the back of his armor. "Oh, fuck." Simmons said, as the Chief brought him down face-first. Simmons groaned in pain on the impact. "Thanks," John said, grabbing the "Grifball" out of his hand. "For this." The Chief's armor turned orange, and he ran towards the Red team's goal, just as his team got up. "I'm comin' for you!" the Chief heard Sarge's voice, and needed no help to tell that he was right on his tail.

He ran for a couple seconds more, and just as he felt Sarge's fingertips brush up against the back of his armor, he flipped over backwards. He let his foot touch the back of Sarge's helmet, causing Sarge to fall onto the gymnasium floor, and the Chief used Sarge's body to "surf" across the floor. The Chief jumped off of Sarge's head, and scored the first point. The ball disappeared from his hand, and his armor returned to the ceramic green color. "Ow," Sarge said, getting up, rubbing the back of his head. "Talk about a killer migraine." The Chief turned around to face Sarge. "Oh, look at you," he said, slugging him in the arm. "You're an augmented human, a Spartan. A normal human would have been killed by that. Quit your crying, Barbie."

"Yeah!" Church yelled. The group all looked at the cobalt Spartan. "Who's up for round two?!" They all just looked at him. "Are you sure?" Sarge asked. "We'll kick your asses!" Church just laughed. "Oh, listen to you!" he said. "The Chief just kicked _your_ asses!" Sarge just looked at Church. "Fuck you." he said. "Fuck me?"Church asked. "Fuck you!" The Chief just stood there, shaking his head. "Are we playing again?" he asked, annoyed. Simmons turned to him. "I don't know," he said. "You want to get your ass kicked, old man?" The Chief looked at the Spartan. "I'm old?" he asked. "I'm only 46!" The Spartan just laughed. "By my terms, that's old!" he said. "Hey, don't talk to the Chief like that!" Church said. "Thank you!" the Chief said.

"John?" he heard someone call his name from behind. He turned around, to see Dr. Halsey standing by the stands. "I'll be right back." he said, taking off his helmet, and walking over to the stands to meet Dr. Halsey. "What do you need?" he asked, upon reaching her. "CPO Mendez is awake," she said. "He would like you to come see him when you get the chance." He nodded. "Ok," he said. "I'll go now." She nodded, and he walked back down to the group. "Listen," he said. "Continue this without me. Mendez is awake, and he wants to speak to me." They nodded, and he walks back to Halsey. "I'll take you to him." she said. He nods, and follows her out of the Gymnasium.

_NS_

The light brown Spartan walked towards the landing pad, where a UNSC Pelican was landing. _You know what to do,_ the Master's voice gurgled in his head. The Spartan nodded, and concentrated for a few seconds. After a deep thought of humanity, his body structure reformed to match the body structure of a regular Spartan-III, so his Flood infection hints spread all over his body and armor disappeared. He walked over to the vessel, and waited for the dropship to open. The commander of the ship walked off the lift, and approached the infected Spartan. "We recieved a distress siganl coming from this outpost," the man said. "Is everything ok here?"

The Spartan nodded. "Everything is fine here," he said. "You may be on your way." The commander looked at him, and signaled his men to come off the ship. "Spartan," he addressed him. "You're acting suspicious. Who are you?" The Spartan stepped up to the commander. "That's none of your concern," he growled. "Leave. Now." The commander looked at him, and shook his head. "No, sir." he said. The Spartan signaled for his infected troops to reveal themselves. An infected trooper appeared behind each man, and killed them instantly. "What the h-" the commander said, reaching for his Assault Rifle. The Spartan was faster, taking out his Pistol, and shooting his hand.

The man screamed out in pain, falling down, as the Spartan's troops drew their Covenant Carbines on him. The Spartan signaled them to hold their fire, and they obeyed. The commander looked up at the Spartan, in agony. "What the hell, Spartan?" he asked. "You're supposed to be on our side!" The Spartan put his Pistol away, and reached up to remove his helmet. "Think again, Commander," he said, removing his helmet. His infection began to reveal itself to the horrified commander. The mandibles on his face clicked, features that had appeared thanks to his infection. The Spartan had pale gray skin, mixed with touches of brown and green. "I'm on no one's side." He took out his Pistol, and shot the commander until he died, and he signaled for an Infection Form.

_John-117_

The Master Chief walked into Mendez's hospital room. The CPO looked over at him as he entered. "Chief," he said in a hoarse voice. "Permission to speak, Sir?" he asked. He nodded, not wanting to speak. "I'd like to apologize, for almost killing you." he said. Mendez nodded at him, looking up at him. "What are you waiting for?" he asked the Spartan. "Chinese New Year? Take a seat, boy!" The Spartan cracked a light smile, and sat down by the side of the bed. "Did we defeat the Flood?" Mendez asked him. "No sir," he responded. "We were overrun, and we had to evacuate." The CPO nodded. "Well, at least no one died." he said. "That _is_ good." the Chief said.

"Are the rest of your troops here?" Mendez asked him. "Yes sir," John said. "They arrived this morning. Or afternoon. Or evening. Hell, I don't know." The CPO cracked a weak chuckle, and coughed hoarsly. "That's ok son," he said. "I don't need to know what _time_ they got here, I just need to know if they are here." The Chief nodded. "Well sir," he said. "In that case, they're here." The CPO nodded. "Good," he said. "Chief, when and what is your next mission?" The Chief dreaded this question. "Dr. Halsey, her "daughter" Cassie, Tucker, Church and I," he said. "Are breaking into the Arctic facility to find Cortana's data chip." The CPO nearly bolted upright.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "You're thinking about penetrating a heavily guarded UNSC facility!" He heard someone say, "Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" The Chief looked up. "I didn't need your input, Private Tucker," he said. "Why do we need to got to Antarctica so bad?" Tucker asked, as he walked in. "It's fucking freezing out there." The Chief looked over to Tucker. "I need to get my AI chip back." was all he said. "Why?" he asked. "What's it to you?" the Chief asked. Tucker backed away. "Ok," he said. "Never mind." He turned back to Mendez. "Get some rest Sir," told the CPO. "I'm going to need you for Operation Frostbite." The CPO cracked a laugh. "Is that what you're calling it?" he asked. "Ok, ok. I'll try to get some rest." The Chief walked out of the room, and decided that he was going to sleep for a while, too. So, that's what he was going to go do.

Some time later...

Most of the time, when he slept like _normal_, John would sleep with a knife underneath his pillow. First, he sensed someone was in the room with him. He opened his eyes, and stirred a bit. He opened his eyes all the way, and lightly gripped the Combat Knife concealed underneath his pillow. He snuck a glance over at to his left, and saw a shadow, someone standing over his bed. He immediately lunged, and knifed at the figure. They backed up just in time. "Cool it, John! It's just me!" John recognized Cassie's voice, and calmed down only a little bit. "Cassie?" he asked. "What the hell are you doing? Don't do that!" He reached up, turned on the light, and placed the knife back under his pillow.

She looked at him. "What is it Cassie?" he asked. "I was trying to sleep." She sat down on the bed, and looked at him. "Have you ever felt, um, weird feelings for someone?" she asked. _Oh_, he thought. _She's in love with someone, this is what this is about._ "I guess," he asked. I felt that way towards the children I grew up with. Like Kelly, and Linda. Why do you ask?" She started playing with her hair. "I just started to get these weird feelings for a guy," she said. "Who?" He asked. "A guy." she replied. "Oh, you don't want to share the thought. I'm cool with that." She looked at him. "Anyway," she said. "I feel like I _shouldn't_ have feelings for him." The Chief cocked his head at her.

"Why is that?" he asked. "I don't know, John!" she said, almost crying. "I feel like we've known each other for a long time, but we haven't. We've only known each other for a week." He sniffed. "I know how you feel." he said in a sad tone. "How do you know how being in love feels?!" she almost screamed at him. "I was in love at one point in time." he said. "But she was taken away from me. Gone. Gone forever." She looked at him, a hint of sarrow on her face. "What was she like?" she asked. "Young, I think," he said. "She was extremely beautiful. She started to get edgy. And she decided to pull the plug." She stared at him. "She opted out?" she asked. "Killed herself?" he asked. "In a way, yes."

"You poor, poor man." she said. "Don't feel sorry for me." he said. "No one else does." She stared at him. "You don't know what having amnesia is like, do you?" she asked. He shook his head. "No," he said. "How long have you had amnesia?" She looked up at him. "Twelve years." she said. Twelve? Something about that number feels familiar... "You just don't understand," she said. "What it's like to wake up one morning, and not remember who you are, or who you were." He raised an eyebrow. "Were?" he asked. "Yes," she said. "Were. Well, I'm sorry for disturbing you. Good night." She got up, and left his room, and the door closed behind her. "Yeah, good night." he said, turning the lights out.

A/N: So, I think that chapter was longer. Just a heads up, in a few chapters, you (the readers) will learn who Cassie is, and where she came from. When John was referring to the one he was in "love" with, he was referring to Cortana. Also, very, very soon you (the readers) will learn who the mysterious light brown Spartan was and how he got infected. So, you should really stay tuned for that!


	11. Chapter 10: Frostbite

Chapter 10: Frostbite

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: I want to say thank you to all of my readers who have read this far. Um, in this chapter, lets see. The Chief, Dr. Halsey, the Reds and Blues, Cassie, and Mendez will embark on "Operation: Frostbite." They will possibly recover Cortana's data chip. The group will also encounter the new infected Spartan, dubbed "NS." A few chapters from now, you will learn the truth about Cassie, her past and one of her flashbacks will be revealed to the Chief in this chapter.

The Chief stood in the armory, readying himself for the numerous tasks ahead. He took a fully loaded Assault Rifle and a Shotgun. "You ready for this, Chief?" Tucker asked, walking up to him. "Oh, hell yeah," he said. "I'm going to Antarctica with one and only goal." Tucker readyied his Energy Sword, making sure it was operational, and shut it off. "And that is?" he asked. The Chief snagged a few fresh Fragmentation Grenades. "I prefer not to respond, soldier." he said, turning to Tucker. "You're not big on giving things away," Church said, walking into the UNSC _Infinity's_ armory. "Are you, Chief?"

"Like I said," he replied turning to Church. "I don't have to tell you what I plan to do." Church stared at him. "Can you at least drop a hint?" Church asked. The Chief placed the Mark VII helmet on, immediately being exposed to an all new HUD. He saw the usual things, such as energy shield bar, his ammo count, etc. But also, there was a 3-D representation of him down in the right hand corner, detailing if he was wounded, if his armor was malfunctioning, etc. "I'm looking for something." he said. "Well," Tucker said, patting his shoulder. "We hope you find it. Right, Church?" Church turned to Tucker. "What?" he asked. "Oh, yeah! Yeah! We hope you find what you're looking for." They walked out of the armory. _Yeah_, the Chief thought. _So do I_.

_NS_

A light brown Spartan walked through the halls of the UNSC _Infinity_, with Active Camoflauge on. He had followed the Master Chief around the _Infinity_ all morning, but kept himself at a distance. Once, throughout the whole morning, the Chief turned around, thinking he had seen him. The Spartan followed at a longer distance after that, and overheard him speaking to a light blue Spartan about going to the UNSC facility located in Antarctica. _That's the facility you're going to be at_, the Master's voice gurgled in his mind. "Yes, I know." the Spartan said, his voice barely above a whisper. The Spartan had closely watched the Chief for days on end after the events on Sidewinder. He had also watched the Red and Blue Spartans, although he didn't any interest in them.

_John-117_

"Church!" the Chief called, looking around for the cabolt Spartan. "Oh my God!" he heard Church say, from inside one of the rooms. "What?! Will you please quit yelling! I'm in here!" The Chief didn't like how the cabolt Spartan responded to his call. The Chief walked down the hall and into the room where Church sat, cleaning his Sniper Rifle. "What do you want?" Church grunted, angrily. The Chief frowned inside his helmet. "Can you be a little more rude, Church?" he asked. "Shut up, Chief!" he said, loading the Rifle. "What is wrong with you?" he asked. "What do you care, asshole?" he yelled at him. "Aren't you the one who just asked for no yelling?" the Chief asked, trying to keep his cool.

"Oh, shut up!" Church said. "Again, what do you want?" The Chief cleared his throat. "Are you ready yet?" he asked. Church looked up at him. "Can you just give a couple minutes?" he asked. The Chief shook his head. "Church, we don't have a couple minutes." The Chief heard rustling as Sarge walked in, loading his Shotgun. "Are we ready to go yet?" he asked. The Chief turned to the Spartan in Regulation Red Armor. "As soon as Sniper Church here gets ready." he told Sarge. Sarge looked at Church. "What's takin' so long, bluetard?" he asked. "Shut up, asshole!" Church exclaimed. The Chief sighed, and checked to see if his Assault Rifle was loaded. It was. "Church, we don't have all day." John said.

Church looked up at the Chief. "Fine!" he said, getting up. "Let's go." He and Sarge walked out of the room, Church right behind him. "Why are we going to this Arctic base?" Sarge asked him. "I have a goal." Was all the Chief said. "And that is?" Sarge asked. "Classified." Tucker said, running up to the three. "Thank you, Private Tucker." the Chief said, with noteable sarcasism in his voice. "Really?" he asked. "No, that's not a real thank you." the Chief exclaimed. "I could have easily have said it! No need to waste your breath!" Tucker grunted. "Thanks, Chief." he said, sarcistically. The Chief thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the source of the disturbance. "You okay, Chief?" Tucker asked. The Chief turned his head toward the Spartan in Aqua Armor. "Yeah," he said, continueing to walk with them. "Just thought I saw an Elite wearing Active Camo." Little did they know, he knew he saw... it. The shimmer in the air. Someone or something, was following them. He was sure of it.

...

The Chief sat down in the Pelican dropship next to Cassie, whom was bundled up in warm clothes. He loaded his Pistol, and placed it on his thigh, his new set of armor electrically "sticking" it to his thigh. His head was swimming with thoughts of who or whatever was following him. "Are you ok, Chief?" she asked him. He turned to Cassie. "I'm fine," he said. "I just have a bad feeling." Cassie looked at him. "If you're feeling sick, we can get you some medicine." The Chief shook his head. "No," he said. "Not that feeling. I just feel like someone or something was following me, while we were still on the _Infinity_."

"Oh, is the big bad Master Chief actually scared?" she asked, laughing. The Chief looked at her once more. "Don't make me laugh." he said. "Don't be harsh to my daughter, Chief." Dr. Halsey replied. Cassie looked up at the doctor. "I thought I wasn't your daughter?" she asked. "Ok, ok," Halsey said. "Adopted daughter, whatever." The Chief cleared his head, and banished the uneasy feeling that was growing in his gut. "Chief, what are you expecting when we get to that base?" Simmons asked. The Chief looked up at the Spartan. "Son, I honestly can't say." he said. "Why exactly am I coming along again?" Church asked.

"Because," the Chief said. "I need you for recon, Private Church." The Spartan shook his head. "Yeah... whatever." he grunted. "Why is your AI's data chip so important to you?" Cassie whispered to him. "I can't say." he said. "She's just..." His voice trailed off, and he lost his train of thought. "She's just what, Chief?" she asked. He just sat there, trying not to think of... her. The AI that he knew, had cared for him. Could AI's care for a person? It seemed like Cortana had cared about him. Cassie snapped her fingers in front of his faceplate. "Leave him alone, Cassie." Dr. Halsey said. "Let him be." The Chief heard Grif clear his throat. "What are we doing again, Sarge?" he asked. "Put a cork in it, Fast Eddie." Sarge grunted.

The Pelican had just left the _Infinity_, and was on it's way to Earth's orbit. The Chief snapped out of his thoughts, and readied his Assault Rifle, taking it off his back. He made sure that the Rifle was fully loaded, which it was, and sat back. "Chief, how long is this going to take?" Tucker asked. The Chief looked at the Spartan. "Kid, don't worry about that." he said. "You're going to be here a while." The Spartan had spent a lot of time with Cassie in the last week, and they'd gotten to know each other, if possible. "Now entering Earth's orbit." the pilot said.

"Get ready, everyone." the Chief said. The Chief felt something as the Pelican fell into Earth's orbit. As the ship entered Earth's orbit, the Chief thought he saw "it" shimmering in the air, but a second later, it was gone. The Chief narrowed his eyes, and tried not to think about it. "Touchdown in twenty!" the pilot yelled over the roar of the engine. The Chief signaled to his crew, as they got their weapons ready. Twenty seconds later, the Pelican touched down on the snow. The pad opened up, and touched down on the ice and snow. "Ok," the pilot said. "This is as far as I can bring you. The guards of the place could have noticed us."

The Spartans walked off the Pelican, with Mendez, Halsey and Cassie right behind them. "That's ok, Crewman." Mendez said. Church changed seats, and looked at the Spartans. "I'll have the pilot stay here, and I'll provide intel, and all that good stuff, and we'll take off if things get too heated." The Chief nodded, and turned to his crew as the dropship closed. "Ok, we're going to split into three groups, and all of us will find seperate routes into the base." The group nodded. "Mendez, Halsey, Cassie, and Sarge," he said. "You're a group." They nodded, and got together. "Let's see," he continued. "Simmons, Grif, Carolina, and Wash. You're another group."

Simmons let out a groan. "Do I really have to go with this idiot?" he asked. "Are you complaining?" the Chief asked. Simmons groaned, and sighed. "No." he said. "Ok," the Chief said. "Tucker, Caboose, and Donut. You're with me." Caboose started jumping up and down. "Yay!" he exclaimed, with excitement. "Are we going to have a sleepover?" The Chief shook his head. "Just ignore him," Tucker said. "That's what I do." The Chief lifted his head. "Ok, let's move out!" he exclaimed. He and his team ran towards the west of the facility.

"So, what are we going for?" Tucker asked, as they ran. "We're going to find a way in, and hopefully not attract any unwanted attention." They continued running toward the facility, and stopped. "Look!" Donut said. "Sleeping people!" The Chief looked at the bodies, which had been ripped into, with it looked like with bullets_ and_ plasma? "This isn't right," the Chief said, getting on one knee, examining the bodies. "These guys were killed by humans _and_ the Covenant." He looked at their uniforms, and that's what frightened him. On their uniforms, it labeled them as UNSC operatives. But that's not what scared him. Their bodies had a lightish gray and green tint to their skin.

"Is it hypothermia?" Tucker asked. "I don't think so," the Chief said. "It looks like these men were killed by their own sides, _and/or_ killed by Covenant forces. The question is, if they were killed by UNSC forces, then why?" That's when he heard quiet footsteps behind him, thanks to his Spartan "reflexes." He quickly turned around, and kicked the person off their feet, and she landed on her back in the snow. The Chief leveled his Rifle to Cassie's face. After realizing who it was, he lowered his Rifle and helped her up. "Jesus Christ," he said, as she gripped his gloved hand. "Don't scare me like that. Why aren't you with your group?"

"Dr. Halsey said that I should come with you," she said, brushing herself off. "Something about being protected." Tucker stepped forward. "I guess you're really important to her." he said. "Shut up." she grumbled, frowning. It was clear to the Chief that Cassie extremely disliked Tucker, and this wasn't the one that she had feelings for. "Ok," the Chief said. "Just keep up." He went back to examining the bodies. He noted the tint to their skin. "Could the Flood be here...?" he whispered to himself. He got up and took out his Assault Rifle, and looked around. "Whoa," Tucker said. "What's wrong?" The Chief grunted a response. "New plan," he said. "Fire at anyone first, ask questions _later_."

Tucker took out his Energy Sword and turned it on. They kept walking in the same direction. "Chief?" he heard Church's voice over his radio. He activated his external radio system. "Go ahead, Church. We're listening." He heard Church clear his throat. "I just wanted to tell you guys to be careful," he said. "I managed to hack into the facility's cameras, and there are a _lot_ of dead bodies. Looks like most of the staff have been killed." This sent a rare chill down the Chief's spine. "Thank you, Private Church." he said. "We'll stay in contact." He continued to walk towards the compound, but more slowly. "Chief," Tucker said. "What could have killed all of the staff?" The Chief turned to Tucker. "I don't know," he said. "But now, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

_Simmons_

"I can't believe the Chief paired me with this idiot." Simmons groaned. "Oh, quit your complaining," Carolina said. "Or I'll slit your throat while you're asleep." That shut Simmons up. "You didn't have to be so rude about it." Washington said. "Oh, shut up Wash!" Grif said. "I wasn't talking to you, Grif!" he said. They continued walking until they saw the first bodies. Washington got on his knees, and examined the bodies. "Three dead Covenant tangos." he replied, getting back up. "What happened?" Carolina asked. "I have no idea." Washington asked.

"Looks like they were killed by their own side?" he asked. "That's weird." Simmons said. "No kidding," Washington said. "Thanks for the update, Simmons!" Simmons looked at the alien bodies. "Something here doesn't feel right." he said. "How'd you figure that out?" Grif asked. "Well, face it," Simmons said, looking at his orange teammate. "They were killed by their own side, but why?" Grif just looked at him. "Well," he said. "I guess that makes sense." Washington and Carolina walked off, and Simmons and Grif followed.

All of a sudden, a trio of machine gun bullets fired into the snow. "Fuck!" Washington said, dodging the shots. "Take cover!" Simmons was confused. "Take cover where?!" he screamed, dodging bullets. "Good point!" Grif said. "You're god damned right it is!" Carolina screamed, doding and looking for the source of the fire. "Now look for the shooter!" Simmons was even more confused now. "I don't want to die!" Grif said, as he and Simmons continued to dodge bullets. "Grif," Simmons said. "Hand me your Sniper Rifle!" Grif looked at him. "Why?!" he screamed over the noise. "Just do it!" he screamed, almost getting shot.

Grif threw him the Sniper Rifle, and he loaded it. He looked through the scope, and looked around for the guy who was firing at them. "There he is!" Simmons said, putting his recticle over his head. "Say good night, buddy." He pulled the trigger, and saw the man's head explode. "He's gone." Simmons said. "Good shot, Simmons!" Grif said. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." he grunted.

_Sarge_

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Mendez said, as they neared the rear entrance of the base. "I'm telling you guys, I just heard multiple machine gun rounds go off." The two shook their heads. "Whatever, Sarge." Dr. Halsey said. "Ok, we're at the door. Now all I have to do is hack into the facility's systems, and get the door open." Sarge turned around, and raised his Shotgun, just in case. After a few seconds, the door opened. "That was weird." Dr. Halsey said, standing up. "What?" Sarge asked, turning around. "What's weird?"

"Well," she said. "There was no interference. Nothing. Not even interference from AI based within the facility Something doesn't feel right." Sarge pointed his Shotgun to the open door, and into the darkness beyond. "Well," he said. "Ladies first." Mendez looked at Sarge. "No, no, no," he said. "That's not how it works. We go first, we have to protect her." Sarge looked at the CPO. "Why?" he asked. "Why is she so important?" Mendez didn't respond. They walked into the dark, and turned on the flashlights on the barrels of their firearms. "Just follow orders, Sarge." Mendez said, as they scanned the dark room for anything.

They looked around the room, and they saw a dead marine slumped against the wall. "This isn't right," Mendez said, as he examined the body. "What happened here? Is the whole facility like this?" The Sergeant looked around for a door. He found one, and saw it had been slammed open. "Doe's that catch your attention?" he said, pointing to the destroyed door. Mendez turned to the door. "Yes," he said, walking to the door. "It certainly does." They looked through the door, to find a staircase that was lit by lamps in case of power outage.

"Where does this staircase go?" he asked. "Scanning," Dr. Halsey said, looking at the holographic map of the facility. "According to this map, that staircase goes down three levels." The Sergeant took a closer look at the staircase. He noticed a "stream" of dried bluish-black blood that went down the stairs. "New plan." the Sergeant said. "What's that?" Mendez asked. "We follow this trail of dried blood." he said pointing at the barely noticeable trail. "Yeah," Dr. Halsey said. "That seems like an idea. It's a lead, I'll give you that one."

They walked down the stairs, following the trail of blood. "Whose blood is it?" Mendez asked. "By my calculations?" Dr. Halsey said, following them. "This blood came from a Covenant Sanghelli." The Sarge remembered encountering the infected Elites on the _Spirit of Fire_, and he banished the thought. They rounded a turn, where they saw a huge hole in the wall. "Where are we going?" he asked, seeing that the blood trail went through the wall. "It looks like, into the main floor of the facility." Dr. Halsey replied. The trio walked through the wall, and emerged into a long hallway, lit by lamps that had came on when the power had been cut.

The trail of blood continued down the hall. "Seriously, what happened here?" Mendez asked. "Attempting to hack into the cameras." Dr. Halsey replied. They continued to follow the trail, and the Sarge noticed that the blood was starting to get a green color to it. It was faint, but it was there. "Why does the blood have a touch of green to it?" Sarge asked. "I have no idea," Mendez said, as they came across a door that had been smashed open, like the door up on the ground floor. They walked in, to see a light flashing on and off.

They walked around the room for a few seconds, before seeing a nearly dead UNSC Marine, with blood slowly dripping from his lips. Sarge was under the impression that the Marine was dead, but he opened fire with his pistol. The trio dodged the shots until he ran out of bullets, but he kept clicking the trigger, so Sarge figured the man had lost his mind. Mendez walked over to the marine. "Take it easy, son," he said, reaching to grab the gun. The marine hit the CPO with the gun. "Stay away from me, I know what you are!" The Sarge was confused. "Hey!" he said. "Just calm down, we want to help you!"

"Go to hell!" he said. "Stay away from me!" The CPO sighed. "Calm down soldier," he said, slowly. "What happened here?" The marine seemed to calm down a little. "It started when the abomination escaped it's holding cell," he started. "What's the abomination?" Dr. Halsey said. "That's just we call it," he said. "It's this big blue goliath that was born here, and it killed every-" His sentence was interrupted when someone shot him dead. The Sarge turned around, but didn't see anything. "What the hell?" he said. "Who killed him?" The CPO looked around. "I don't know," he said, leaving the room. "Let's just go."

A/N: Ok, so I lied. There was no flashback in this chapter, but I promise that it will come eventually. What do you think left the blood trail? What killed the marines? Find some of that out, plus who Cassie really is very soon!


	12. Chapter 11: Revelations

Chapter 11: Revelations

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: So, congratulations. You have made it to the chapter where (most of) everything is revealed. In this chapter, the truth behind Cassie and her past will be revealed. And you'll also learn what the "abomination" is. That's it. Enjoy the chapter!

_John-117_

"These bodies are starting to freak me out Chief." Tucker said, as they walked to a door that had been blown off it's hinges. "Calm down, Tucker," the Chief said, turning on his flashlight. "We'll be fine." Cassie cleared her throat. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Don't be afraid, Baby," Tucker said. "I'll protect you." Cassie turned to him. "Oh, shut up, you perv." she grumbled. The Chief grumbled at the two bickering each other. He turned around to face the two. "Will you two please," he started. "Shut up? We're here- I mean, _I'm _here for a reason, and you're all just slowing me down." They all looked at him, probably thinking he had lost his marbles, but he didn't care.

He pointed at Tucker. "You, Tucker," he said. "Stop hitting on women all the time, and stop trying to get into their pants! I mean, come on man! A forty-something year old women?! She looks like she's my age!" Tucker just hung his head, and let out a sigh. He looked over at Cassie. "Cassie," he started. "Give Tucker a break. At least be a little less meaner to him." She scowled for a few seconds, but finally nodded. "Thank you, and Caboose?" he said. The dark blue Spartan looked up at him. "Thanks for being so quiet, son." Caboose nodded, not saying anything. He turned back around, and started walking again. "Come on," he said. "Try to keep up."

He walked over to the west side of the base, which had a side entrance. There was just one odd thing about the entrance. For one, the door had been blown right off of it's "hinges." And two, the two guards that had been guarding the door, they had been smashed together, making the opposite sides of their skulls cave in. "Um, Mister Chief?" Caboose said. "Yes, Caboose?" Chief asked. "Why do the sleeping people have craters on their heads?" The question confused him for a minute, but then he understood. "Son," he said. "These officers are _not _sleeping. They've been murdered. The question is, by what?"

He proceeded over the bodies, and walked into the building. He found himself in room full of corpses that belonged to Covenant Elites, Covenant Brutes, and UNSC Marines. "What. The. Fuck?" Tucker asked, walking into the room. "What happened in here?" Caboose walked in behind him. "I think we are late for nap time." he said. The Master Chief turned to Caboose. "Private Caboose," he said. "No one's napping. Everyone here is likely to be dead." Cassie stared at the dead bodies. "What's going on here?" she asked, timidly. "Cassie," he said. "I can honestly say that I have no idea what's going on at this outpost."

All of a sudden, the Chief heard a door rapidly opening and closing. He turned around, pointing his Rifle in the direction of the noise. He saw a door opening and closing on a dead Marine. He lowered his gun, but only a little bit. He walked over to the door, and forced it open all the way. What he saw next, was absolutely horrifying. The corpse had been horribly mutilated, _and_ it had been ripped in half. The corpse's entrails had been dragged across the floor inside the room, to maybe suggest the victim had been attempting to escape from, well, whatever had killed him. "Oh god!" Tucker said. He suddenly threw off his helmet, and puked all over the floor.

"Wimp." Cassie said. "You have to hand it to him," the Chief said, looking at the bloody mess. "It _is_ pretty horrific and disgusting." Cassie sighed. "Yeah, you're right." Caboose walked over to the three. "Mister Chief," he said. "What could have happened here?" The Master Chief turned to Caboose. "I honestly have no idea," he said. "But I have a very, very bad feeling about this." The Chief looked around for anything that could lead them to whatever did this. He looked over to a terminal that was flashing green. He walked over to it, and cautiously tapped the button, hoping it wouldn't explode. The console activated, and played the most recent left recording.

The recording started with a few seconds of static, and then adjusted to reveal a face. "Nothing like good old 20th century static, right?" the man said. He took a sip of some kind of beverage and put the cup down. "This is Doctor Jenkins," the man said, then he frowned. "No relation to the Jenkins lost on Installation 04." He took another sip of his beverage, and proceeded. "This will be the tenth update of the status of Specimen 789." he said, scratching his scalp. "This one is surprisingly healthy, as the last 788 specimens died long before they matured." He reached over and grabbed something. He returned to the screen, holding a data pad. "As you can see," he said, holding up the data pad. "Specimen 789's vitals are very good, and we should see him in combat very soon."

The Master Chief narrowed his eyes. Had this been or could be the thing that caused all this carnage? The data pad on the screen shifted, and showed a holographic image of Specimen 789. It looked like a Covenant Elite, but at the same time a Covenant Brute. He tried to get a closer look, but the man took the data pad away. "So, I don't really know what else to say, but-" he was interrupted by a really high, gutteral growl. He turned around. "It's Specimen 789!" he screamed, turning back to the terminal. "It's escaped holding! It's-" He was washed with plasma fire, and his blood cascaded the screen as it went black. The Master Chief looked back at the terminal, and realized that there was dried, caked blood on the terminal. It then occured to him that this whole thing must have occured only a few hours ago.

"What the hell was that?" Cassie said, who had been standing next to him. He turned to Cassie. "I have no idea, but I think I know what caused this." he said, walking away from the terminal. Tucker had put his helmet back on and was talking to Caboose, probably trrying to keep him from going crazy. The Chief turned around to a new sound, and saw Cassie typing at the terminal. "What are you doing?" he asked, walking over to her. "Trying to get into the database," she grunted, while typing. "I want to see when this transmission was recorded." She continued typing, and eventually said, "Look's like this thing broke out of his cell three and a half hours ago."

The Chief nodded. He was close to guessing. He turned around, and walked back over to Tucker and Caboose. "I wish my best friend Church were here." Caboose said. Tucker sighed. "Caboose, Church _isn't_ your best friend, he hates you!" he said. "Yeah," Caboose said. "He's my best friend!" Tucker sighed. "Whatever." he groaned. "Okay ladies," the Chief said. "It's time to move in deeper." Tucker and Caboose turned to look at him. "Bow-chicka-bow-wow!" Tucker said. The Chief took out his Pistol, and smacked Tucker in the faceplate. "Ow!" Tucker said. "Motherfucker!" Cassie laughed, walking over to the four. "I guess that's what you get for saying shit like that!"

Tucker looked over at her. "Oh, you're just-" he started, but the Chief held his hand up, stopping him. He looked at the Chief. No, the Chief shook his head. "Yeah, okay." he said. "Let's go." The Chief walked through the door that had been jammed by the body. "Do we really have to go through here?" Tucker asked. "Shut up." Cassie said. He continued walking through the room, and found a door that had been ripped open. "Men," the Chief said. "And ma'am, this is our point of entry." Tucker cleared his throat. "Bow-chick- bow-" he started, but Cassie interrupted him. "I swear to God, Tucker," she started. "If you pop one more dirty joke, sex joke, or even reference sexual intercourse, I will cut your organ off, and don't think I won't!" Tucker cleared his throat again. "Okay, never mind." he said. "Exactly." she said.

"This stairwell will take us down to the main hub." Cassie said. "How do you know?" Tucker said. "Because," she said. "I read the sign, you dumbass!" Tucker looked at her. "Oh, right." he said. "Anyway," the Chief said. "Let's get down there. I want to know what caused all this." He walked into the stairwell, and walked down the stairs. "Donut," the Chief said. "Why haven't you been talking?" The pink one cleared his throat. "Oh, uh, I have nothing to say." he said. "Whatever." Tucker said. "Says the guy who is always gossiping." The Chief reached the end of the stairs, and saw a malfunctioning door, covered in bluish-purple blood.

"What the hell is this?" Donut asked, reaching out to touch the door. "Don't touch anything!" he said, smacking his hand away. "Whatever left this blood could still be around here!" He gently traced his finger over the blood, finding it to be slightly wet. "It's still barely wet," he announced. "So, whatever Specimen 789 is, it's still near here." Cassie cleared her throat. "Well," she said. "What will you do when you find it?" He turned to face her. "I can tell you this," he stated. "If it caused the deaths of most of this facility's staff, it's _no_ friend of mine." Cassie's eyes widened. "You're pissed," she said. "Aren't you?" He put his Pistol on his thigh, and reached his hands up to his helmet. He touched the helmet, and took it off, revealing an angered, brutal face. "You have _no_ idea." he said.

He placed his helmet back on, and looked around. He grabbed the jammed door, and forced it open. He found himself in a room full of cases that had "UNSC Property" marked on them. "Sir," Donut asked, gesturing to the crates and cases. "I have no idea," he said. "Shall we find out?" Tucker cleared his throat. "Um, Chief?" he asked. "Yeah?" the Chief asked. "Isn't that a bad idea?" he asked. The Chief gave a rare chuckle, and said, "Oh, Tucker. I like the way you think. But aren't you as curious as I am?" Tucker stayed silent for a while, and finally said, "Yeah, okay."

The five walked over to one of the bigger crates, and Tucker and the Chief gripped opposite ends of the lid of the crate. "On three, Tucker," he said. "One, two, three." They lifted off the lid, and threw it over to the left. The Chief jumped onto the crate and looked inside. "What the fuck are those?" Tucker asked. The Chief took one look, and didn't like the facility's inventory. "They're Promethean weapons. Boltshots, Incenerator Cannons, you name it. It's all here!" he said. "Why would the UNSC want this stuff?" Cassie asked.

Before he could answer, he heard a loud roar. He turned in the direction of the noise, and saw a huge, hulking creature jump onto one of the crates. "What the fuck is that thing?!" Donut screamed. "That's Specimen 789!" Cassie said, pointing. "It has to be!" She was right. The Master Chief remembered the holographic image of the thing. It was huge, bigger than a Covenant Brute or an Elite, but not as big as a Hunter. It wore dark blue armor plates on it's body, and was armed with a Fuel Rod Gun. And it had mandibles, _and_ had the bulk and muscle of a Brute. It jumped to the nearest crate, and fired the Fuel Rod Gun. The Chief needed no help knowing that he and his crew were fucked, and not in the good way. But, that's when the cavalry arrived.

"Now!" Washington shouted, jumping in front of the Chief, bringing up a hardlight shield, and deflecting the shot. "Washington?" Tucker asked, activating his energy sword. "What the fuck?!" The Chief suddenly heard music, and heard a woo-hoo coming from Grif as he fired the minigun from the Warthog that Simmons was driving. Specimen 789 flipped to the left, avoiding the shot from his Fuel Rod Gun. The monstrousity roared, and charged towards the Master Chief. The Master Chief waited for the abomination to get close enough, and jumped towards it, and kicked off of it. He took his Assault Rifle off his back, and fired into the thing's flesh.

The thing didn't even flinch, but got angrier. He landed behind the thing, and got ready to fire the thing. "Boss," Simmons called. "The AI storage is on the left side of this hanger! Go! We'll cover you!" The Chief nodded, and turned to Cassie. "Come on!" he said. "Tucker, Donut and Caboose, stay here and lay cover fire!" He and Cassie ran to the left side of the hanger, while Specimen 789 was distracted by the Reds and Blues giving cover fire. They ran into the storage room, to see Dr. Halsey, Mendez, and Sarge were already in the room. "It's about time you guys got here!" Sarge said. "Where are the others?" The Chief walked over to one of the walls, lined with holographic lines.

"Can it!" he said. "They're covering us!" Dr. Halsey looked concerned. "Why?" she asked. "What's happening?" The Chief looked at her. "The huge experiment this facility held, it broke out, and killed everyone." He looked through all of the drawers of AI chips and finally grabbed a data chip, tagged with Cortana's name from the drawer and held it in his hand. "What is that?" Cassie asked, walking over to him. "This is my AI," he said. "_This_ is Cortana." Cassie looked closer at the chip, reached out and gently touched it. All of a sudden, she let out a scream of pain and fell to the ground. "What?" he asked. "What's wrong?" She groaned repeatedly for a few minutes, and finally got up. "I just had a flashback."

"What was it this time?" Dr. Halsey asked. "I, er, or my former self, was standing in some kind of control room, with _him._" She pointed to the Chief. "Cassie," Dr. Halsey said. "Haven't you figured out who you are yet?" Cassie looked irritated. "You never told me anything!" she hissed. "Cassie," Dr. Halsey said. "You're not that lucky just to have mad computer skills. And these flashbacks _are_ yours. That's why you have these flashbacks. There's no such thing as ghosts. You're one of them. You're an AI. _YOU_ are Cortana."

A/N: Dun-dun-dun. That's right. Cassie was actually Cortana, she just didn't know, and she didn't remember anything. This is very complicated concept, but I promise that I will explain it it the future chapters. In the next chapter, you'll learn what Specimen 789 is, and who the mysterious Spartan is. Also, you'll uncover a few bits to this friggin' puzzle! Stay tuned!


	13. Chapter 12: Six

Chapter 12: "Six"

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

"Wait," the Chief said. "Cassie _is_ Cortana?!" He had so many questions, and he wanted to make up all of the lost time with his "precious" AI. He was about to speak, when the door was busted down. Donut came flying through the hole in the wall and hit one of the support pillars. "Donut!" Sarge said, looking at him. "Why do you keep making holes all over the place?!" Donut looked up at Sarge. "Sarge," he said. "Specimen 789 is an asshole." The Chief ignored his urge to ask Cassie or Cortana, whoever she was, all of his questions. He loaded his Assault Rifle and pointed it at the Donut-shaped hole in the door. He saw the rest of the Reds and Blues be thrown through the hole, plus a Warthog. He barely had enough time to take cover, but he did.

He peeked around his cover, and saw 789 coming through the hole. He was about to engage the enemy, when he heard clapping. "Well done, Specimen 789!" someone said. "What the hell?!" the Chief said, surprised, turning to face the newcomer. He saw a Spartan in light brown armor turn off his Active Camo. He pointed his gun at the newcomer, but soon found himself outnumbered. A few Flood Infected Elites deactivated their cloaks, followed by dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. "Oh, fuckberries." Tucker said, as he got up.

"Who the hell are you?" the Chief asked. The Spartan might have answered, but Doctor Halsey was the first to speak. "No, it's impossible!" she exclaimed. The Chief turned to face her. "You were killed in action on Reach!" The Chief turned back to the infected Spartan, now seeing the traces of Flood Infection on him. But why weren't they attacking? "I'll ask you one more time," the Chief said, pointing his gun at the man. "Who the hell are you?" The Spartan stepped forward, and cleared his throat, if he had one, that is. "Gentlemen," he said, sticking out his hand. "I don't believe we've met. These are my friends."

The Chief knew that the Spartan was referring to the infected Elites, and Specimen 789. The Chief timidly took his hand, and they shook. "And," the Spartan finally said. "My name is Spartan B312. The Noble Six." The Master Chief dropped his gun in surprise. "Halsey was right," he said. "You're dead!" Noble Six laughed. "Leave it to Doctor Halsey. The smart one!" he said. "This doesn't make sense," Dr. Halsey said. "How are you alive?" The Noble Six turned to face her. "Oh, believe me, I'm dead," he said. "I just got 'revived', if you will."

"How'd you get revived?" the Chief asked. He then realized that Cortana was silent and he snuck a glance her way, she was just sitting there, staring off into space. "Well, after Reach fell," he started. "And after my death, the Flood found my dead body, and the Gra- er, I mean, the Master revived me, and possessed me. Well, possessed part of my mind that is." The Chief was a little confused. "What do you mean the Master?" he asked. "Do you mean the Gravemind?" Cortana interrupted. "So many nightmares!" The Chief turned in her direction. "Sorry!" he said. "Yes," Six said. "The Gravemind. Oh, fuck off! I'm saying your name. You're not in charge of me!"

"What the fuck is this guy talking about?!" Grif groaned. "Put a cork in it Fas..." Sarge's voice trailed off. "I understand why you brain dead idiots don't understand," Noble Six said, looking over to Halsey. "But Doctor Halsey should understand, she's supposed to be in on this." The Chief picked up his gun and pointed it at Six. "Yeah, I bet that would happen," he said, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Dr. Halsey is on our side." Dr. Halsey cleared her throat. "He's right." she said. He turned to Halsey. "What?" he said. Dr. Halsey raised her hand to her mouth and spoke into a watch she was wearing. "Code 75461," she said. "Disable Spartan 117's weapon systems."

All of a sudden, the Chief felt an electric tingle in his fingers, and he dropped his weapon, or more likely, it left his grasp. He tried to pick it back up, but along with the Pistol, when touching a weapon, it sent a electric shock through his armor. "What the hell is going on?!" the Chief said. "I'm sorry John," she said. "I should have known I would lead you into a trap." Tucker looked at the doctor. "What the hell is going on?!" he said. "Chief, we are no longer in need of your services," Dr. Halsey said. "Forgive me, John." She turned to 789, who was standing beside Six. "Specimen 789, the 'Brelite', please kill the Master Chief." she said.

The Chief could not believe what was going on. He had been betrayed. He tried to dodge the rounds that the Brelite shot at him. The good news was that he succeeded. The bad news, one of the bullets hit him in the abdomen, reopening his surgerical wound. The Chief stumbled, and fell to the ground, not being able to move. "John, no!" Cortana shouted. He could barely make out her face hovering over his faceplate. "Tucker," she screamed, he could barely hear her voice. "Get over here!" If the enemy was firing, he couldn't hear them. Tucker appeared at his side as well, as he placed his DMR on the ground.

Cortana whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. He put his helmet back on, and took out his Rifle. "Sorry, Chief!" he screamed. "This is for your own good, consider as payback!" _Great,_ he thought. _Tucker's going to put me down._ But that wasn't the case. He hit him in the face with the butt of his weapon, and everything went black.

A/N: There it is, it's all (mostly) in place. Cassie happened to be Cortana stated in the last chapter, and the Spartan is a resurrected Noble Six. And Dr. Halsey is a traitor. Is the Master Chief dead? Will the crew survive the chaos? These questions may or may not be answered in the next chapter. Until next time!


	14. Chapter 13: Cortana and Church

Chapter 13: Cortana and Church

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Someone close to Church will return in this chapter. Also, Doc is going to be joining the character roster in this chapter! Read on!

"I'm sorry," the Chief heard a voice. It sounded so far away. He had no idea how long he had been out. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. "He's very lucky to be alive," a voice said, whom he didn't recognize. "We're all lucky to be alive," he heard Washington say. "I can't believe we survived that carnage." The Chief tried to move his fingers, but failed. He could feel himself breathing, but his breaths were strained. "What carnage?" Tucker asked. "All that happened was, the Chief was shot, the Flood pushed us out, and the Noble Six, that monster, and the mad doctor escaped." He heard someone clear their throat. "Shove it, dick sniffer!" Church said.

"Will you guys shut up?!" he heard someone say and sob at the same time. It was Cortana. "The Chief could die!" The Chief wanted to comfort her, but all he could do was listen to his breathing. "Die?" the unknown voice said. "I performed surgery on him! He couldn't have died! The old scarring tissue from his previous surgery saved his life!" The Chief felt Cortana's fingers running through his short hair. It must feel so good for her to be human, and partially remember her past. "Shut up, Doc!" Church said. "We just payed you to help him! And how are you alive?! You disappeared in the teleporter nexus or some shit!"

"To be honest, I don't know how I'm alive." Doc said. "Well, I'm happy you're alive!" Donut and Caboose exclaimed at the same time. "Why thank you." Doc said. "How come Doc is the only fucking medic we ever get?!" Simmons said. "What," Doc said. "Are you unhappy about that?" Simmons let out a sigh. "No, just surprised, I guess." he said. "Why isn't he awake yet?" Carolina asked. "He just had surgery!" Doc screamed. "Yeah," she said. "Three hours ago!" The Chief heard someone clear their throat. "Everyone calm down!" Mendez said. "John-117 will be perfectly fine!" _Really,_ he thought. _Why haven't I woken up yet, then?_ "True, he just had surgery," he said. "But there's only one reason he's alive, and it's not the surgery. Well, it's a part of it. But not all of it."

"Then what is it?" Doc asked. "Well," Mendez said. "We, or I, know that his armor locked down when the bullet penetrated him." He should have expected the next thing. "Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" He heard someone get hit with a gun. "Ow, geez the back of my head!" Tucker said. "As I was saying," Mendez said. "Dr. Halsey installed the armor lockup function to his armor, and if she _did_ know what would happen, she obviously might have saved his life, so she might not be a total traitor." He heard Tucker clear his throat. "But you're still mad at her, aren't you?" he asked. "Well yeah, but we just can't kill a traitor. Who knows, she could have just done that to stay alive." Mendez replied.

"I have a question." a female said. "What?" Church asked, acknowledging the person. "Why the fuck did you have to wake me up again, you fuck?" she screamed. "Because, Tex," Church said. "We, I mean I, needed to have you back. You were Leonard Church's girlfriend. Or the counterpart you were based on. And so technically you are my girlfriend. And I was starting to go insane." Tucker cleared his throat. "Church, you were already insane." he said. "Shut up, cockbite!" he said. "So," Grif said. "You admit that you still love Tex?" Church sighed. "Yes..." he said.

"How cute." Tex said, sarcistically. The Chief forced open his mouth, and let out a slow breath, not wanting to be noticed. "Uh, did the Chief just open his mouth?" Donut asked. _Fuck_, he thought. "No, Donut," Sarge said. "You've been in the sun to long." He heard Grif sigh. "Yeah, go take a swim!" he said. "We don't have any wa-" Donut started. "Wait, we do. Nevermind." He continued breathing, slowly starting to gain control of his body. "How were you convinced to bring me back?" Tex asked. "Cortana gave me advice." Church said. "How?" Carolina asked. "She wasn't here a few weeks ago!"

"Well, I uh, might have possessed the Chief while he was asleep one night." Church said. "That son of a bitch." the Chief whispered quietly. "Guys!" Cortana exclaimed. "I think he just talked!" He heard someone walk over to him. He felt skin barely touching his nose. "Yes," Doc said. "He's breathing. The surgery was a success." Cortana cleared her throat. "How's his heart beat?" she asked. He felt Doc touch his neck. "Average," he said. "He'll be fine. Continue Church?" Church cleared his throat. "Anyway," he started. "When I possessed the Chief, I came into contact with a fragment of Cortana."

"That's impossible!" Mendez said. "Her data chip was destroyed!" Cortana cleared her throat. "No," she said. "He did come into contact with me. Or a fragment of myself that I left in the presense of a backup chip. I knew that the Chief would end up in Blood Gulch. I convinced Church to attempt to revive Agent Texas, or Allison again, so he could be happy again." The soldiers must have stayed quiet for a while until Caboose broke the silence. "We are not in Blood Gulch now?" he asked. "No, idiot! We're in Valhalla!" Tex said. "Not to mention the place I died. For the third fuckin' time!" she screamed.

"Calm down." Tucker said, as calm as he could. "But how did we get here again?" he asked. "We teleported!" Church said. "Oh, and we found a black armored robot, and infused a backup Beta AI, also known as Allison/Tex, and she helped us escape!" The Chief continued to breath, and his eyes began to open slightly. He let out a groan, wanting to be noticed this time. "He's awake!" Cortana said, with excitement. "No," Doc said. "He's just stirring a bit." The Chief cleared his throat. "For one, Doc," he said. "I have been awake for a while now, I just couldn't move. For two, I am awake!" He opened his eyes, and slowly sat up, grunting in slight pain.

"Are you ok?" Church asked. "I'm fine." he grunted, getting up. "Just dandy. Who are our new arrivals?" Church cleared his throat. "The purple one is Doc," he said. "A medic who disappeared a while back. And the one in black is Tex/Allison. My former girlfriend." Cortana cleared her throat. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked. He nodded. "I'm fine," he said. "Why are we here?" Grif cleared his throat. "That's a big question isn't it?" he started. "Are we the product of some cosmic-" Sarge interrupted him. "He didn't mean that, meatsack." he said. "We're here because we randomly teleported here. And we're holding ground here until you're better." The Chief cleared his throat. "I _am_ better." he said, grunting in pain once more. "John," Cortana said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You need to try to take it easy a couple days." He stared at his former AI, now a human. "Yeah," he said, calmed down by her words. "Okay."

He sat back down on the guerney, and rested himself. "Okay," Washington said. "Everyone back to your individual bases. Doc you want to stay a while?" Doc looked at him. "No, no, no." he said. "I'm a pacifist." Church sighed. "I think he means as a medic." he said. "Oh," Doc responded. "well in that case, yes. Okay." The Reds packed up, or whatever, and took off north. The Chief didn't need help knowing they were at Blue Base. Wash, Carolina, Tucker, Tex, Caboose, Church, and Doc all looked at each other, and walked into the Blue Base.

Cortana sat down on the guerney next him. "Are you sure that you're okay?" she asked. He looked at her, and brushed his gloved hand across her cheek. Across_ actual _skin. _She is real this time._ "I'm fine," he said, as he continued touching her face. "I'm just lucky to be alive." She looked surprised, and happy at the same time. "Why are you touching me?" she whispered. He suddenly stopped, and took his hand away. "Do you not like it?" he asked. She looked even more surprised. "No, no, no!" she said. "I do. It's just surprising." He gave her a sad look. "I just want to say," he said. "That I'm sorry."

She raised her eyebrow. "Sorry for what?" she asked. "For not getting you back to Earth," he said. "I promised I would, and I failed." She laughed. "John," she said. "You didn't fail me. No one failed me. Dr. Halsey just cloned herself, and moved my 'mind' into the nervous system." He looked at her. "How long have you been human?" he asked. She looked like she was thinking. "Uh, since the fall of Reach, I think." she said. "So, technically you've been human for 11 years. Is that correct?" he asked. She looked at him. "I guess." she said, obviously struggling to remember. "You're having a hard time remembering aren't you?" he asked.

She nodded. "If you want advice," he said. "I guess you should go see Church. He told me about the time that he was destroyed, and resurrected through a monitor system. He claimed that he didn't remember anything." She nodded. "I kind of remember that," she replied. "When I, er, my AI fragment came into contact with Church, he told me about his time in a monitor." The Chief looked at her. "So, what do you remember?" he asked. "I just told you!" she exclaimed, frowning. "I'm having a really hard time!" He nodded. "So," he said. "Where are we again?" She looked up at him, and got up. "According to Sarge, and Washington," she said. "We are in a outpost they call 'Valhalla'."

"You mean like the Norse Mythology area?" the Chief joked. "Am I dead?" She lightly punched him. "Goofball," she said. "No, this is the bases of a few KIA Reds and Blues who killed themselves, and/or were killed by the Meta." He raised his eyebrows. "The Meta?" he asked. "What the hell is a Meta?" She looked at him, and sighed. "You have a lot to catch up on, Chief." she said. "Anyway, not a Meta._ The _Meta. He was a AWOL Freelancer, A.K.A. Agent Maine. He was driven insaneb by his AI Sigma, and went around capturing Freelancer AI's. He captured the Omega, Theta, Gamma, and many other Freelancer AIs." The Chief nodded. "If he's so bad," he said. "Then where is he?"

"Dead. K.I.A." Washington said, walking up to them. "When he betrayed me, and took the Beta AI, or Tex out of her robot body, we were forced to kill him, by attaching a hook to his chest, and pushing a Warthog of a cliff." He stared at Washington. "That sounds painful." he replied. "Yeah," Wash said. "I bet it was." The Blues walked out of the base. "We can't stay here forever." the Chief said. "Why not, Chief?" Carolina asked. "You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me," he said. "Did you not see what happened back on Earth?" She stared at him. "Oh. Well yeah, but-" Cortana interrupted her. "Yeah, but nothing," she said. "He's got a point. We have to kill Noble Six. Again. And we have to ensure that the Flood doesn't spread." He looked at her.

"What about Doctor Halsey?" he asked her. "I don't think she's a problem, John." He stared at her as if she was five. "What the hell?" he asked. "What are you insane? She attempted to kill me!" She laughed. "Yes, she did," she said. "But I don't think she wanted to hurt you. I think she just had to find a way to keep herself alive. And I don't think she's a total bad person." He rolled his eyes. "So, we teleported here randomly?" he asked. "Yeah, that's right." Tucker said. "We're just cooling our heels here." He looked at Washington. "Wash," he said. "Is there anyway to track Noble Six?" he asked. He shook his head. "Unfortunately, not." he said.

"I have no idea where he could have gone." Carolina said. "Would he be interested in any Freelancer equipment?" he asked. Carolina shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "And besides, the main Freelancer facilities are destroyed." He thought for a moment, stumped. "I don't have any other ideas." he said. "Well," Cortana said. "The important thing is for you to get some rest." He turned to her. "Yeah," he said. "I guess so. But I can't sleep long. We have to find Noble Six, and we can't waste time." He laid down on the guerney, as Cortana moved, and closed his eyes to rest.

A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter was not satisfactory. I wanted to add few more characters to the story. Also, since I didn't add a A/N to the previous chapter, I'd like to know what any of my readers think about Halsey's sudden betrayal. I don't know if she's going to be a villain in the story yet. Also, Specimen 789 is the result of the UNSC's final attempt to clone a Covenant Brute/Elite, or you can call it the Brelite, if you want. So, next chapter, I don't know what's going to happen. Well, wait for the next chapter, and I'm out.


	15. Chapter 14: Secrets of Valhalla

Chapter 14: Secrets of Valhalla

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

_Tex/Allison_

_Valhalla_

_The Next Day..._

Tex walked up to the roof of Blue Base and took her place next to the black CPO. "Hello, Tex." he said. "Hello, uh..." she started, but she didn't know his name. "What was your name again? Mendel? Mort?" He laughed. "For one," he said, turning to look at her. "Gregor Mendel was a famous scientist that lived in the 1800's. For two, Mort? For a black man? Hell no. Hell no! My name's Mendez." She shook her head, confused. "Whatever," she replied. "So, how's 'business' today?" He turned back, looking at the valley ahead, and Tex decided to do the same. She saw a field full of the Reds and Blues. And Doc, the medic, sitting on the sidelines. "What the hell is going on out there?" she asked. "The Reds, Blues and the Chief are doing a battle simulation," he said. "CTF. Capture The Flag." She scoffed. "Yeah," she said. "I know what CTF means. It takes me back to my days in Project Freelancer."

She took a glance over to the left of the fields, and hills, and to her surprise, she saw a man, dressed in combat jeans, a UNSC tanktop, and armed with a Pistol. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing. "That's John-117," he said, following her gaze and finger. "The Master Chief." She was a little surprised. "What is he doing?" she asked. "Why isn't he wearing any armor?" He turned to her. "He prefers it this way," he said. "He wanted to do this simulation without armor." She was more weirded out now. "Why?" she asked. "When I was in Project Freelancer, I wouldn't ever take my armor off. Then again, I can't take my armor off, considering I'm a robot." He let out a grunt. "And your point is...?" he asked. "I don't know," she said. "For once, I have no idea what I'm talking about." He walked over to a laptop that she just now noticed. "Where's that Cortana chick at?" she asked. "Being the Chief's eyes and ears," he said, as the laptop came on, revealing the fight from the Chief's point of view. "Time to evaluate his performance."

_John-117_

_Valley In Valhalla_

John switched on the helmet cam on his stationary UNSC Marine helmet. He looked around, and loaded his Pistol. "Try not to strain your muscles, John." He heard Cortana's voice on the other end of the comm. He smiled, and keyed the comm on. "It's nice to have you in my head again." he said, as he moved from his cover. "Technically," she said, giggling. "I'm not in your head. I'm just inside Blue Base, keeping an eye on your progress." He sighed. "Don't ruin it." he said. "You sound sad," she remarked. "Is that correct?" He grunted. "Don't distract me, Cortana." Mendez's voice came over his comm. "Let's do this." he said.

He looked over his cover, and jumped up on the hill. His primary and secondary objectives appeared on his HUD. It read: Primary Objectives: Provide cover fire, Steal the Red's flag. And Secondary Objectives: Kick Red Ass. He acknowledged the objectives, and slid down into the creek, and felt water splashing on his legs. He ran out of the creek, and took cover behind a rock. He peeked around he cover, and saw Grif walking around, in the vicinity.

He waited till he was turned around, and switched to a closer cover. "No, Sarge," Grif said, on the radio. "I don't see any Blues." He waited a couple seconds as the Chief snuck up on him. "Ok, ok, Sarge. Yeah, whatever!" he said, shutting off his radio. "Asshole." he said, turing around to face the Chief. "Oh, shi-" he said, reaching for his gun. He had not time, as the Chief pistol-whipped him in the face, and knocked him out.

Grif's unconscious body dropped, and the Chief dragged his body over to the edge of the creek, and left him there. He heard someone walking behind him. The Chief snapped in that direction, and pointed his gun at Carolina's head. "Jesus," he whispered, lowering his Pistol. "Don't scare me like that." She nodded and they snuck towards the Red base. He saw Donut run off towards the Blue base, and was about to open fire on him, bu he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Let him pass," Carolina said. "He'll probably just get shot at when nearing the base." He nodded, and continued up the ramp to the roof. He stopped at the wall that was on the roof when he heard voices. "Simmons," It was Sarge's voice. "I just sent Grif out with Donut to get the flag,-" Carolina interrupted his listening with a whisper.

"Maybe we should go back and tag Grif." she whispered. He turned to her. "It's okay," he whispered. "I got him on my way in. Let's worry about these guys." She nodded. He turned back to the voices and continued to listen. "Now go down there, I don't care if you die!" Sarge said. "Whatever, Sir." Simmons said. "Move, now!" the Chief said. She nodded, and moved down the ramp. He moved into the shadows as Simmons walked down the ramp. He moved out of the shadows and grabbed him from behind. He let out a gasp. "Don't say anything!" he hissed, hitting him in the back, and pushing him over the edge.

"That was a little risky, John!" Cortana said. "Oh, be quiet, Cortana!" he said, taking out his gun. "I just need the flag!" He walked onto the roof, and saw the flag blowing in the wind. "Hello." he said, walking up to it. "Objective sighted," John said on the comm. "Closing in." He was about to grab the flag, when he felt the end of a gun's barrel press into his back. "Fuck." he groaned. "Busted." Cortana said. "Hold it right there, you dirty Blue!" Sarge said. "Of course," the Chief said, lifting his Pistol hand over his back. He felt Sarge grab the barrel, and then the Chief fired his gun. "What the hell, John?!" Cortana said in anger. "You killed him!" He snickered. "Relax Cortana," he said, turning around. "My Pistol is outfitted with stun rounds."

"Oh." she said, in a slightly calmer tone. He looked at Sarge as he recovered from the stun rounds, and attepted to get up. The Chief tried to impede his process, and hit him with his Pistol. However, Sarge rolled out of the way and got up. He attempted to shoot him with the Shotgun, but the Chief grabbed the barrel, causing Sarge to shoot vertically towards his own face. The Sergeant lost his grip on the Shotgun, and the Chief pulled it out of his hands. The Chief placed the Shotgun on his back, and reloaded his Pistol. Sarge took out his Pistol, but it was a too late. John unloaded a full clip of stun rounds into the Sergeant's armor.

Sarge stumbled a bit as his armor took the stun rounds. He stumbled towards the ground, but the Chief caught him. Sarge held on, and stopped stumbling. "T-Thanks, C-C-Chief!" he said, in a shaky voice. He sneered. "Don't thank me yet." he said, as he reloaded his Pistol. Sarge tried to wriggle free, but John had a tight grip on Sarge. He finished reloading, and placed the Pistol's barrel under Sarge's chin. "What the fu-" he started, but lost his words. "Merry Christmas." the Chief said. He fired into the Sarge's chin, disabling his shield. He dropped the Sergeant, and he reloaded the Pistol, as Sarge shook on the "ground."

He took out Sarge's Shotgun, and aimed at the ground. "John!" Cortana said. "Don't!" He snorted. "Don't worry, Cortana," he said. "I'm not crazy like Halsey is." He fired the Shotgun around Sarge, which created cracks in the ground. The cracks connected, and the roof collapsed. John grabbed the flag as the structure failed, and flipped backwards once he had it. His feet touched the wall, and he slid down into the hole. Sarge raised his hands to block the impact, but John landed with his legs stretched out above him. "Jesus." Sarge said. "You can pass out now." John said, smacking him in the face with the butt of the Shotgun.

"Damn." Cortana said. "That was, um... I don't have the words for it." He snickered, running out of Red base. "You don't need to speak, Cortana." he said gruffly. He ran towards the creek, where Grif was getting back up. He turned around, and saw the Chief running his way. "Oh, shit!" he said, completing his original sentence. Grif dodged the incoming strike that the Chief sent his way with the flag. Grif moved behind the Chief, and started shooting at him with the DMR. John flipped over backwards, landing on Grif's shoulders. "Hey, hey, hey!" he said, struggling to walk. "Not the face!" The Chief didn't have any struggle balance on the orange Spartan.

The Chief balanced on Grif's shoulders as he ran towards the creek, ackwardly. "Help me!" he shouted into the distance. A sniper bullet landed in the water between Grif's legs, scaring the shit out of him. He wobbled, and lost his balance. The Chief jumped across the water to the other side of the river. "Thanks for the ride, Grif!" he said. "Fuck yoblargg!" he screamed as he fell into the creek. He ran towards the Blue base, and was stopped by Donut, who threw a grenade his way. The Chief caught it with his right hand. "Oh, fu-" he said, running back to Blue base. "Running time!" he said. He waited three seconds, and then threw the Frag back at Donut. The Frag detonated, and sent Donut flying into the base. "I am awesome!" he whispered, as he ran up the base's ramp. He ran towards, the flag stand, where Mendez and Tex were waiting, and he slammed the flag down.

Mendez keyed the mike to all the team members on each team. "Game over," he said. "Blue Team wins." Tex stared at the sweating Spartan. "What?" he asked. "Wow," she said, stepping up to him, and sticking out her hand. "That was impressive. Almost hot." He just laughed, as he took her hand and they shook. "Don't get any ideas bitch," Cortana said. "He's mine." The Chief listened to the whole phrase. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Oh, shit!" Cortana said. "I can't believe I said that out loud!" He just laughed. "So," he said to Tex. "How was my performence?" he just stared at him. "My god," she said. "You're like a male version of me!" He just laughed. "I suppose so," he said. "From Church's stories, you're a badass yourself."

"Hey, Chief!" he heard Tucker's voice. He turned around, and looked over to the right ramp, to see Tucker and Church running up the stairs. "Church, Tucker!" he said, focusing his attention on them. "What is it?" Tucker keeled over, panting. "Damn man!" Church said, looking to his teammate. "We only ran like a few hundred feet! You are really out of shape!" Tucker was still panting, but looked up at Church. "Fuck... off. Besides, you are a fucking AI encased in a fucking robot body." he said. "Anyway," the Chief said. "What do you need?" Church helped Tucker up, and he brushed his armor off. "Okay," Tucker said, looking at the Chief. "Church and I were down or up in the hills, just fuckin' around, and-" The Chief interrupted him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said. "Fucking around? I don't want to hear about that!"

Church started to laugh. "No, no, no, no!" he said. "I'm not gay, Chief! And I'm a robot, so it wouldn't work out!" The Chief laughed, and sighed. "Ok, ok, so what happened?" he said. Tucker cleared his throat. "So, like I said, Church and I were up in the hills, near that tunnel thing, just tossing grenades, and fucking around," he said. "I guess the walls, were, by the way, bow-chicka-bow-wow! I guess the walls were weak, because one of the grenades, caused the wall to collapse inward." The Chief was patient and listened. "Okay, okay." he said. "Give me a half hour to rest, and get my armor back on, and then we'll go look at your find. Okay?" Church and Tucker nodded, and ran down the stairs. He turned back to Mendez, who was talking to Tex. He wasn't sure what was in the "cave", but he was eager to find out.

A/N: So, what did you think of the fight scene between John and Sarge? Also, what do you think is inside the cave? I'd like to hear your opinions, as always, so hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	16. Chapter 15: Promethean Tombs

Chapter 15: The Promethean Tombs

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

_John-117_

_Valhalla_

John had been having a rough day so far. Almost taking a beating from Sarge and Church had just found something. He was busy enough already getting his armor ready. He didn't like getting back into his old armor, but then again, he couldn't trust the new armor model that Doctor Halsey had made. As he worked on getting his armor put on, he heard someone sneaking up on him. He slowly reached for his Pistol and turned around, pointing his gun at Cortana. "Oh," he said. "It's you." He placed the Pistol on his thigh, and it stuck there. He turned back around and grabbed his helmet to put it on. She suddenly walked up to him and took his helmet from him.

He turned back around to face her. "What is it?" he asked. She shook her head, staring at his olive-colored helmet. "Nothing. I just can't believe I used to live in this." she said. "Well," he said. "You are human now. You don't live in my helmet anymore." She frowned, putting his helmet down on the bench. "I've wanted to do this so bad," she said. "But you can't tell the others we did." He wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but he never got to. She stepped up to him and stood up on her toes, and gently placed her lips against his. He had never really kissed a woman before, but it was pretty amazing. It only lasted for a few seconds and he thought it was because of she had been herself for at least a couple days now.

Well, being herself by finally recovering her memory. She almost immediately blushed from her kiss with him. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Nothing," she said, still blushing. "I just never kissed a guy before. And I've always wanted to kiss you, John. But when I was just an AI, I couldn't." He nodded, grabbing his helmet. Cortana began to walk out of the room, but John stopped her. "Cortana?" he asked. She turned back to face him. "I'm the guy," he said. "Aren't I?" She looked at her feet for a second, before her eyes met his. She nodded. "I knew it." he said. "Somehow, I always knew."

"It's not really a shock." she said. "I knew you and you knew me." He put on his helmet, concealing his smile. She walked out of Blue base, leaving him by himself. He grabbed his Assualt Rifle. _You can never be too careful, _he thought. He walked outside of the bunker, where Church and Tucker were talking. "Alright, maggots!" he said. They all looked up at him. "Everyone, including you two are going to look at what you found." They all got up and started walking into the hills. They walked through the upper plains until sure enough, the Chief and his crew came across a hole in the wall.

"Looks like you weren't lying." he said. "Let's get in there." The Chief should have anticipated the next thing that happened. "Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" Tucker shouted as loud as he could. "Dear God in heaven Tucker," Church said. John turned around to look as he turned to face Tucker. "If I hear you say that one more time," he said, his voice escalating to a scream. "I will _not_ be held responsible to what I do to you!" They all looked at a very angry Church. "Damn," Tex said, being the first to speak. "And I thought that _I_ had anger issues."

"Yeah," Washington said. "That _was_ pretty harsh." Church turned to face all of them. "Do I look like I give a shit?" he asked. "He is so fucking annoying! Every hour of everyday it's bow-chicka-bow-wow this and fuckberries that! He is so annoying!" John turned to Tucker. "Tucker," he said, poking his armor plate. "Would it kill you for once, just to shut your damn mouth?!" The Chief wasn't exactly pleased about Church's comments towards Tucker. But either way, he didn't care. "Church, you need to calm the hell down." They all turned back to the hole in the canyon walls. Cortana stepped into the whole and fell about half a foot.

"Something tell's me nobody has been in these caves for a very long time." she said. "What makes you say that?" Carolina asked. "There is dust all over in here," she said. "And it looks like it's been here for while." They all one at a time jumped down into the cave. The Chief turned on his helmet's flashlight, and looked around him. "Looks as if its been abandoned." John stated. "Yeah," Cortana said. "I just stated that." He nodded. "I know." he said. They walked down the slope that they were on, venturing further into the cave.

"Flashlights on people," the Chief said. "And stay _together._ We have no idea what's down here." He slid down the slope, as he turned on his flashlight. As everyone else slid down, he made sure Cortana stayed close to him as he walked. As he walked, Cortana stopped him by putter her hand on his. "What?" he asked. "What is it?" As she pointed at something, he followed her gaze. "Is that a coffin?" she asked. "It is." he said. "A very weird looking coffin." He bent down, placing his rifle at his feet to examine it. "Chief-" he heard Simmons talking to him, but he interrupted the Red Spartan.

"Quiet," he said. "There's something familiar about this casket." Once again, someone interrupted him. "Chief, somethings not right here." Carolina said. "Hush," he said. He ran his gloved fingers on the symbols engraved on the ancient stone. "Chief, do you hear that noise?" He ignored Donut, as he got up and tried to force the casket open. "Chief-" Cortana said. "What?" he shouted. She shook her head at him in worry, trying to tell him something. That's when the Chief noticed all the coffins in the room opened. As all of them opened, a Promethean Knight rose from each of them, complete with the drone that kept them together and would reconstruct them.

"Can we panic now?" Doc asked. "Weapons free!" the Chief shouted. All of the men and women in the catacombs with weapons opened fire on the targets. "Aim for the drones!" the Chief shouted, as he dove for cover behind a casket. He fired blindly over his cover, as Cortana joined. "What do we do?" she asked. "What are the Drones?!" Tucker yelled, over the sound of gunfire. "The Drones are the fucking things that fly above the Knights!" He looked at Cortana as he reloaded the weapon. "It's not safe here for you, Cortana." He got up and fired at a Drone, killing it. "Sarge!" I yelled. "Get your ass over here, now!"

"Sarge will escort you back to base." he said, firing. It took her a moment, but she spoke. "I love you." she said. He smiled underneath his helmet, and said, "I know." Sarge ran over to him, and took cover as the Chief did. "Get Cortana back to the base, and make sure she is protected!" He nodded. "Yes, Chief!" he said. "Let's go, ma'am!" He got up and ran, with Cortana on his tail. He got up and continued to fire at the Drones, killing two of them. He flipped from cover next to Church. "How we doing Chief?" he asked. "Not to good, Private Church!" he yelled. Church and the Chief got up and fired at the hostiles.

One of the Knights fired a bullet, and the Chief took cover. Church wasn't as fast, and took a bullet to the knee. He fell to cover, holding his knee joint. "Damn it!" Church said, as a black substance poured from his wound. The Chief got up and fired at a Knight, destroying him. "Am I the only one shooting here?" he asked. "Get to work ladies!" He ducked for cover, and reloaded. "You okay, Kid?" he asked Church. "I'm a fucking robot, Chief, not a kid!" he said. "I'll be fine. I mean, my brain still 'detects' pain. But I'll never know what real pain is, since I've never had a human body."

The Chief got back up and destroyed the last three Knights. He got back to cover, and sighed. "That's the last of 'em!" Washington said. The Chief got up, and helped Church up as well, and put his arm around his shoulder to help him walk. "Hey, don't. I got it." Church said. John nodded and let go of him. Carolina walked up to the Chief. "Permission to speak Chief?" she asked. "Permission granted. What is it, Carolina?" he said. "How big are these caverns? What could be down here with us?" she asked. "I don't know, Carolina." he said. "Anymore questions?" Church cleared his throat. "What are we even doing down here?" he asked. "We're taking a look at what you found." Donut said. "And to me," John said. "It looks like a tomb." He got the radio working, while the others just stood around and talked.

_Sarge_

"Sarge, come in Sarge, this is the Chief." Sarge heard the Chief's voice on his radio. "Repeat. Sarge, this is Chief. Come in." Sarge changed the signal to come out of the speakers built into his helmet. "Reading you loud and clear Chief," he said. "What's up?" It took a second, but the Chief responded. "Put Cortana on, Sergeant." he grunted. "No use, Chief." he said. "She can hear you just fine." Sarge noticed Cortana move closere to hear better. "Cortana," Chief said. "Can you give us a layout of the caves?" Sarge waited as Cortana got onto her datapad.

"Chief, it's a maze down there," she said. "Have you cleared out the crypt?" The Chief shouted an order to his men over the radio. "Affirmitive," he said. "Direct us to a less crowded room please." Sarge moved up the hill to the Blue Base, with Cortana following closely. "According to the radar," Cortana said. "There's a hallway that leads into a big room to the north. Head that way." As they continued up the slope, Sarge heard the Chief talking. "Move it, ladies!" he said. "Let's get to that room!"

The two walked into Blue Base, and Sarge reloaded his Shotgun. "So, what's up with you and the Chief?" he asked. Cortana gave him an angry look. "That's none of your business." she said. "Okay, sorry. Sorry." Cortana was about to speak, but she didn't get to. "I can't believe how easy it is to infiltrate an enemy base." someone familiar said. Cortana and Sarge turned towards the source, just in time to see Noble Six and two infected Elites emerge from the shadows. "You didn't think that it would be that easy," he said. "Escaping from us. Did you?" Sarge cocked his Shotgun, but Six was faster. Six took out a Pistol, and shot Sarge in the knee.

"Hold your fire, boys." Noble Six said. "I want to have a little fun. Sergeant, toss me your helmet!" Sarge cautiously took off his helmet, and tossed it to Six. Six stuck his hand in the helmet, and disconnected the link to the comm. He tossed the helmet, behind him. "Now turn around." he said. Sarge complied, dropping his weapon as well. Noble Six signaled for his Elites to attack. Before they could, he did something. "Sorry boys." he replied, taking out his Pistol again. "Never liked you anyway." Before the infected Elites could react, Noble Six shot both of them in the back of the head, killing them.

"What the hell?" Sarge heard Cortana shout. "Shut up, bitch." Noble Six said, as he dragged his men into the shadows. "Why did you kill your men?" he asked, not turning around. "Because," Six said. "I'm not doing this for the Gravemind." Cortana spoke up. "Shouldn't we be dead right now?" she asked. "Do you want to die, bitch?!" he shouted. "I'll kill you right here and right now!" Sarge turned around as fast as he good, picking up his Shotgun. "No you won't, prick!" he said, firing at Noble Six. Six went down hard, a dark green ooz spilling from the hole in his chest. "Good thinking Sarge," Cortana said. "Guy is obviously unstable." Sarge laughed, as he felt his knee. "Team killing fucktard."

"You people were obviously born idiots." Noble Six. "What the hell!" Sarge said, as he turned to see Six getting up as if nothing happened. Sarge continued to shoot at Six, who just came closer, ignoring the 'damage' done to him. He kept coming, until he knocked Sarge's Shotgun from his hands. "How the hell are you alive?" he screamed, as Six grabbed him by the neck, and pushed him up against the base's wall. "Cortana, is it?" he asked. "What the hell do you want from us?" she asked. "Call the Chief in." he said. "How can I do that?" she asked. "You broke our comlink!" This comment looked like it pissed off Six. He punched Sarge in the face, and he just slumped down. "You think I'm and idiot?" he asked, as Sarge listened. "I didn't break your comlink. I just disconnected it."

Cortana moved to Sarge's helmet, but Six blocked her path. "Not you." he barked. "Sarge! Get your helmet, now!" He got up, wiping the blood from his lips, and grabbed his helmet. He reconnected the comlink in the helmet, and looked at Six. "Now, contact the Chief!" he said. "And tell him that you got Cortana back here, and you need him up here." Sarge hesitated, but did what he said, as he didn't want to be killed. After connecting to the network, he said, "Come in Chief, come in Chief." After a few seconds, he got a response. "Hear you loud and clear Sarge," he said. "Go ahead." Sarge cleared his throat.

"I have gotten Cortana back up to base," he said. "We uh, need you to get up here. Something has come up." There was a few seconds of silence on the other side. "Why?" he asked. "What is it?" Sarge got a little freaked out for once. "We just need you to get up here," he said. "something has come up." He heard the Chief sigh. "Alright," he said. "the squad and I will be topside as soon as we can." Sarge let out a sigh of relief, for whatever reason. "Alright," he said, before disconnecting. "See you in a few." Six cleared his throat. "Ah, no." he said. "You won't be seeing him. At least not yet." Sarge was confused. "Wha-" Sarge was asking Six a question, as he felt the butt of his Shotgun collide with the top of his helmet. Sarge was sure he had blacked out before hitting the ground.

_John-117_

John disconnected from the radio, as he killed another Promethean Hound. "Let's get topside people!" he called, as he reloaded his Battle Rifle. "On the double!" Donut ran over to him. "What's wrong sir?" he asked. "I'm not sure, Donut." he said. "All I know is that Sarge needs us topside." Church walked over as well. "How you feeling Church?" he asked. "Uh, I feel fine." he replied. Washington walked up behind Church. "Well, that's great!" he said, slapping him in the back of the head. "The hell?" he asked, in a pretty calm tone. "Enough catching up, Dirtbags." he replied. "Let's get topside, now!"

The remaining Reds and Blues ran back through the tunnels, towards the main chamber. They finally got back up to the surface, and starting walking back to Blue Base. "Okay," the Chief said as they walked. "I'm suspecting something bad." Washington laughed. "Why is that Chief?" The Chief eyed Washington as they moved towards the creek that seperated the two halves of the valley. "It was too sudden for Sarge to contact me," he said. "It just doesn't feel right." The Chief had no idea how right he was. Upon arriving at Blue Base, they immediately saw Sarge down on his knees in front of Blue Base.

"Sarge!" Donut said. "What the hell's going on here?!" That's when a bullet narrowly missed the Chief's face. "Don't come any closer!" an all too familair voice said. "I will kill this son of a bitch!" The Chief looked up as Noble Six jumped from the roof of the base onto the ground, next to where Sarge was positioned. He noticed that he was carrying a spare Sniper Rifle in his hands from the base and Sarge's Shotgun on his back. "Where's Cortana?" the Chief shouted, as he pointed his Battle Rifle at Six. "Unless you want this poor old man's blood all over the place," he said. "I suggest you all drop your weapons!"

"Listen to him!" John said, as he laid down his Pistol and Battle Rifle. He heard dozens of weapons fall to the ground, and he let out a sigh of relief. Six looked over and said, "You! Put your gun down!" John turned around, to see Washington still holding his DMR. "Put your gun down, Wash!" John said. He shook his head. "No," Washington said. "He's just bluffing!" Six let out a laugh. "Really?" he said. "Am I bluffing? Don't make me laugh. Just put the gun down." Washington shook his head once more. "No." he said, firmly. "You _are_ bluffing. I can see right through you." John shook his head. "It was your choice." he whispered, turning back around. "Okay, so you think I'm bluffing." Six said. "That's fine." He walked over to Sarge and lifted him up from the ground, forcing him to stand. Six took out the Shotgun and shot him in the knee.

Sarge let out a scream, as blood poured out from fractures in the knee joint of the armor. Six turned back to the group. "Are you gonna put your gun down, yet?!" he shouted. _Put the gun down, Washington! Damn it!_ "Why should I," Washington said. "you bluffing bastard?!" Six shrugged, as he cocked the Shotgun. "Suit yourself." he said, as he shot Sarge's other knee. Sarge let out another scream of agony, as even more blood spilled. "Put the gun down, damn it!" Sarge shouted. "That's an order!" Six looked at him. "Hey, shut up!" he said, shoving the barrel of the Shotgun into his mouth. "I warned you," he said. "You didn't listen. I'm going to paint these walls with this man's blood and the bits of his brain." "You son of a bitch!" the Chief heard Tucker say. The Chief was about to turn, when Tucker ran past him.

_Tucker_

Tucker ran past the group, making sure that his Energy Sword was ready to do damage and picking up a Pistol as he ran. He finally got to Noble Six and he grabbed him by the thruster pack on his armor. "Huh?" he said, turning around. That's all he had time to say, as Tucker hit him in the visor with the Pistol. "The hell do you think you are?" he said, through gritted teeth. "Threatening to kill the Sergeant. Our Sergeant!" Noble Six countered the attacks, and head-butted Tucker. Tucker fell into the grass, and Six kicked the gun away. When he was doing that, he quickly reached for the handle of the Energy Sword.

"I said, 'no guns'," he said. "What are you hiding, asshole?" Tucker gripped the handle. "Your ticket to hell." Six just stood there. "Wha-" he started speaking, as Tucker came up and shoved the handle into Six's stomach plating. "See you in hell." he whispered, as he activated the Energy Sword. Six let out a gasp, as the heat of the sword cut through the armor and his probably infected skin. Tucker pulled out the sword, and continued to stab him over and over for a couple seconds. He let go of Six, and let him fall over into the grass. He deactivated the Energy Sword, and walked over to Sarge. "You okay, Sarge?" he asked. Sarge looked at him, and spit blood out onto the grass. "Dirty blue," he said. "You should mind your surroundings."

Tucker had little time to react as he felt himself be grabbed from behind. "What the-" he tried to speak, but his words were replaced my screams of agony as he was shot three times in the abdomen. He fell down on his side, and rolled over, so that he was looking up at the sky. Noble Six came into his field of vision, and got onto one knee. "You think you could kill me?" he asked, taking off his helmet and revealing his grotesque face. "You bastard..." Tucker groaned, feeling blood on his lips. "I killed you." Six shook his head. "You can't kill me." he said, as he took his knife and stabbed it into Tucker's stomach."You can just stay here, and bleed to death." he said, getting up. "As for your Sergeant, I'll be taking him with me." Tucker couldn't move. He just looked up at the sky, as his vision went red. It got darker and darker, until there was nothing.

A/N: Is Tucker dead? Is Sarge dead? Find out the answers to two of these questions really soon!


	17. Chapter 16: Brutal Amputation

Chapter 16: Brutal Amputation

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Ok, so I'm just going to say this. I was originally going to leave major spoilers to Halo 5: Guardians and Season 13 of Red Vs. Blue. But I think it's better if my readers all find out these spoilers for themselves. I don't want to be the one to give them. In order for this Fanfiction to make sense, I have to make a few changes. From now on (and even from the very beginning), this Fanfiction is taking place in an alternate timeline. So, Halo 5 never happened in this timeline and also, the exact ending of Season 13 never happened either. So, with that explained, read away!

_Sarge_

Sarge began to wake up, as he let out a agonizing scream. "Damn it!" a female voice said. "I thought you said he was sedated?" Sarge heard a familiar voice answer. "Well, he was when we left Valhalla!" Noble Six said. "Just do your job, Doctor!" _Doctor? As in that twisted Doctor Halsey?_ "Where am I?" he asked,\ in a angry voice. He tried to move his limbs, but failed to do so. "Calm down Sir." the Doctor said. "You are on a secure UNSC Vessel and you are perfectly safe." Sarge waved the thought of safety away. "How am I safe?" he asked. "You attempted to kill the Chief!" Doctor Halsey looked at him in shock. "So, he is alive?" she asked. "Yes, he's alive!" Sarge said. "But Red Team doesn't deal with traitors!"

"I'm not a traitor," Doctor Halsey said. "I just needed to save my life." Sarge was fuming with anger now. "So, to save your life, you attempted to murder a fellow Spartan?" he asked. "With whatever the hell that hybrid alien thing was?!" Doctor Halsey laughed. "You mean Tartarus?" she asked. "Tartar-what?" he asked. "Tartarus," Noble Six said, as Sarge heard something large lumber into the medical bay. Sarge turned into the direction of the noise, to see the hybrid walking in. "Oh, speaking of Tartarus." Dr. Halsey said. "You remember, the Covenant Elite-Brute Hybrid?" Tartarus looked at Sarge, growling. "Down boy." Noble Six said. Tartarus stopped growling and took a few steps back. "Tartarus, I have the weapon you requested," Noble Six said. "Courtesy of Charon Industries."

Sarge looked over to see Noble Six handing over a weird looking gun. Or was it a rifle? With a knife attached to it? "That's that thing that Grif called..." Sarge struggled to remember. "What was it called? The Grifshot he called it!" The Noble Six started laughing. "The Grifshot?" he asked, laughing hoarsly. "What a terrible name for a perfect weapon. No. This, is the Bruteshot. Used by Brutes when they took over the Covenant Empire. It fires lethal grenades having the power of killing three marines with one direct hit. Oh, and a knife to cut one's stomach open and watch their entrails and blood slowly leak from their body." Doctor Halsey made a face. "That's enough Six." He laughed. "Why?" he asked. "Because I don't want you to freak the patient out." Doctor Halsey said. "Can we get this surgery over with?" Six said, impatiently. "I want to give this guy his new legs and throw him back into the hell-hole that his buddies are at."

Sarge let out a laugh of sarcasm. "They're not my buddies." he said. "They're just people I associate with." Six nodded. "Whatever." he said. "Doc? Are the cybornetics ready?" Sarge was confused. _Cybornetics? What cybornetics? _"What cybornetics?" he asked. "You did notice you have nothing from the kneecaps down, right?" Six asked. "Excuse me?" he asked. Sarge struggled to get up a bit to look down at his legs. They were right. "What the hell?" he said. "You shot off my legs!" Doctor Halsey shook her head. "No. Your legs were too injured to function any longer." she said. "So, we used a high tech laser to cut off the damaged parts and as well, cauterize the veins." Sarge struggled to move once again. "What will you do with me?" he asked in an angry tone. "We can't just leave you handicapped." Six replied. "We'll give you fully functional robotic legs and as I said before, drop you back in that hellhole where your friends wait for you."

"They're not my friends!" Sarge shouted, then feeling sick to his stomach. "Calm down." Doctor Halsey said. "And save your strength." Sarge sighed and laying his head back. "Why should I trust you?" Sarge asked Noble Six. "You are infected with that parasite thing!" Six just laughed. "No, I'm not." he said. "Well, kind of. But I'm not really infected at all." Sarge was confused. "Then why are you under the influence of it?" he asked. "It's a very boring story." he said, as he walked over to a computer monitor on the wall. "I'm sure I could save you the details." Sarge got a bit angry. "I have the time, don't I?" Six laughed as he fiddled with the monitor. "Good point." he said. "Very well." He turned around and the signs of his infection faded, at least on his armor. "This is what I looked like before the infection." he said. "I was a Spartan-III, the sixth member of Noble Team, hence my 'name'."

"I was KIA on Reach, one of the UNSC's top colonies. At least, it was, before the Covenant found it." he continued. "We fought over a small farm town, fought over ONI's classified Sword Base, took the war to space and a lot of people died. Including the whole Noble Team." Sarge laughed. "Than how are you here right now?" he asked. "Shut up for one fucking second and I'll tell you!" Six screamed out in anger. "Six!" Doctor Halsey said, in a scolding tone. All Six did was ignore her. "Ok, so maybe a few months after Reach fell, somehow a few Flood forms found the dead Covenant and I." he said. "The Gravemind somehow managed to partially possess us. We became the ambassadors of the Flood, so to speak." Sarge laughed. "That doesn't make any sense!" he said. "Look Sarge," Six said. "All that happened was this: I died, the Gravemind brought me back and made me an ambassador thing, I go around helping the Flood because it's all I'm good for and I play both sides of the field now, like a mercanary."

"Or a Freelancer." Sarge said. "Do you want new legs or not, asshole?" he asked. "Okay, I'll shut up." Sarge said, probably for the first time in his life. "Good choice, dumbass." Six said. "Setting up set 2A." Six said, tapping the monitor. "Got it." Doctor Halsey said. "Ok Sarge, this is how this will work." Doctor Halsey said. "When the legs connect to your nearly destroyed kneecaps, these piston-type devices will permantly lock them in place, with the help of the locking mechanism we put on while you were out. Also, there is sort 'healing mechanism'. When it connects, artificial tissue will do it's best to connect to and repair damaged artery and vein tissue." Six interrupted the Doc. "Ok, the bionics have been prepped and are ready to be connected to the patient." Doctor Halsey nodded. "Roger that." she said. She went over to a computer terminal, which Sarge was going to guess that it controlled the "crane" that was moving the legs over.

"Aright," Doctor Halsey said. "Disabling artificial gravity now." Six nodded and complied with what Halsey said. Sarge suddenly felt weightless and began to slightly float. They both moved over to Sarge and got to work on fixing him. "This could have easily been avoided, Six." Doctor Halsey scolded. "Yeah?" he asked. "How?" She sighed. "You had to shoot him in his kneecaps." she said, angrily. "They wouldn't drop their fucking weapons!" he shouted. "Now isn't the time for this." she said. "Then why did you bring it up?" he asked. "I don't know." she sighed, as she brought the legs over to him. They both flipped them and they touched what was left of Sarge's crippled legs. "Lock them in." she said. Sarge felt the legs lock onto the locking mechanism, but didn't feel anything down there yet. "Also, we will have to perform minor surgery on your head. Implant another neural interface so your brain and the cybornetics, bionics or whatever you'd like to call them can communicate properly."

Sarge nodded, not feeling a response to be important. "Okay, the legs are connected, let's flip him over, face down." she said. "Roger that." Six said. They both flipped him over. "Ok, I'm going to sedate you now." she said. Sarge let out a small gasp of pain as he felt a needle go into the back of his neck. "You'll be out before you know it." Doctor Halsey replied. She was right. Sarge's eyes were getting heavy and soon, he was out like a light.

_Sometime later..._

Sarge eventually woke up, in a different room, on a cot. He sat up and looked at his new legs. They were painted standard-issue red, which matched his upper body armor. "Well, you survived." Six said, out of nowhere. "So, it seems." Sarge said. "Good." Six said. "Now we can drop your sorry ass off." Sarge looked at Six, ready to bash his head in. "Six!" Doctor Halsey said, with a very angry tone. "We can't just leave him yet! He has to learn to use his new legs!" Six just grunted. "Whatever." he said. "Anything to get this cockbite out of my face for good." Doctor Halsey sighed. "Okay Sarge," she said. "Think about standing up." Sarge went deep into thought about standing up, and it happened. "Good!" she said. "Now focus on taking a few steps." Sarge smiled to himself. _I'll do better than that._ He thought about what he wanted to do and it happened. Very fast.

His left leg lifted with lightening speed and collided with Noble Six's chin. He heard the crack of his jaw bone, as Six fell over onto the floor. And as he fell to the floor, Sarge heard what sounded like Noble Six gargling something. Possibly blood. "Oh my God!" Doctor Halsey said. "You killed him! You actually killed him! Why would you do that?! After all he did for you?!" Sarge put his hand up to her face. "Three things there, ma'am." he said. "A. He was a fucking asshole. I hated him. B. He shot me in my fucking kneecaps with _my_ weapon of choice. And C. Just wait for it." He kept Doctor Halsey from talking for a few seconds until it happened. Noble Six began to move. He took off his helmet and collected as much of the foreign liquid in his hands that he could and started to drink it. Sort of. He then proceeded to force his jaw and upper skull back into place.

He put his helmet back on, revealing the visor to be cracked. "You cracked my visor." he said. "You cockbiting fucktard!" He reached for Sarge's Shotgun, which was still on Noble Six's back. He pointed the weapon at Sarge. "That's my Shotgun you are pointing at me." he said. "No. It's _my_ Shotgun." Noble Six said. Sarge kicked Noble Six in the ribs and listened to the music of them shattering. He took the oppurtunity of taking his Shotgun back. He ripped the weapon from Noble Six's hands. Sarge placed the Shotgun back where it belonged. "Ok," he said. "Don't try anything else." Sarge began to notice a shimmering in the air behind Noble Six. "What the hell?" he said. "Well, now that you have been healed," a new voice said, as the shimmering figure became more clear. It was Agent Texas.

"Allow me to get you off of this ship." All of a sudden a holographic projection appeared from Tex's armor. "You mean, _we_. Right?" Church said. "No, I mean _me._" Tex replied. "You just came along for the ride." The holographic representation laughed. "Well, was I gonna let you slip away again?" he asked. "Eh, good point." she said. "Now, to get our Red Sergeant out of here?"

_John-117_

"I'm going to ask you one more time DuFresne." the Chief said. "What is Private Tucker's condition?" Doc looked up at him. "Tucker isn't in that much of a critical condition. Only one of the bullets entered his abdomen and I think it went in without breaking up." He nodded, pleased with DuFresne's report. "And the knife he was stabbed with?" he asked. "Tucker has not sustained enough damage to bleed out." Doc said. "If I start surgery now, he will make a full recovery. Except for minor damage to the tissue." He nodded. "Exactly what I want to hear." he said. "Now if you could excuse me, I need to talk to a traitor among us." Caboose looked at the Chief. "Traders?" he asked. "There are no traders among us. That would just be silly." Simmons sighed. "Not traders, dumbass." he said. "_Traitors._ You know. A person or people who betray their team. But who is the traitor?"

"Him." he said, pointing at Washington. "Oh, what the fuck?" Washington asked. John was on him in seconds. "You son of a bitch!" he said, punching Washington in the head and chest repeatedly. "You had to think that Noble Six was bluffing! And now, Sarge is probably dead because of you! You asshole!" Washington started to fight back. "Shut up, you little shit!" he said, head-butting the Chief. Washington got up and brought the Chief up with him. He charged the Master Chief into the wall of Blue Base. "Don't accuse me of shit!" he screamed. "He obviously wanted something! And I thought he was bluffing about killing Sarge! If you think I owe you an apology, you have another thing coming! You owe me an apology!" All of a sudden a knife got wedged into the wall. That scared the hell out of the Chief and possibly out of Washington.

"If you ladies are done arguing and fighing," Carolina said. "We have a problem. Tex is gone." The Chief came back to his senses and scanned the group. She was right. Tex was nowhere to be found. "Any idea where she would have gone, Church?" he asked. Church didn't respond. "Church? Why aren't you responding?" He turned to look at Church. He walked up to Church. "Are you damaged, Church?" he asked, tapping his helmet. Church fell over into the grass. "Fuck." the Chief said. "Carolina, correct your analysis. Church is gone too." Carolina sighed. All of a sudden a huge light appeared in the sky. They saw Noble Six fall from the light, followed by Doctor Halsey. And then Tex. "Mission accomplished!" Tex said. "Where'd you go?" the Chief asked. "And where's Church?" All of a sudden Church got up. "Right here dumbass." he said.

He pointed his Pistol at Church. "For one, don't ever call me a dumbass." he said. "Two, where the hell did you and Tex go?" Tex cleared her 'throat'. "We teleported with Noble Six and Sarge." she said. "After Sarge got his new legs, I attacked Noble Six and brought him back here for interrogation." Simmons cleared his throat. "Where is Sarge?" he asked. One last person came from the light. It was Sarge. "We accessed the ship's emergency teleporter terminal to teleport here." Sarge said, as he pointed his Shotgun at their "guests". "Of course after I got new bionic legs." The Chief looked at Sarge. "You got bionic legs?" he asked. "That's kickass." Sarge walked up to Grif. "I can prove it if you want." he said. "You, you don't." he said. "Are you sure?" Sarge asked. "I've already started to think about kicking Grif in the nuts!" The Chief walked over to him and pistol-whipped him in the back. "Alright, alright." Sarge said. "I'll stop."

Just then, their guests started to wake up. "Well, well." the Chief said. "Rise and shine, buttercups." He walked over to Noble Six and picked him up by his chest piece. "You. Explain yourself now." the Chief said. "Or I will brutally beat the information out of you. Slowly. I'm sick and tired of you always getting away. And you can't get away this time. So, fucking talk!" Noble Six grunted. "You can't beat the information out of me." he said. "I'll just heal. And you're wasting your time with me. I should disappear any second now." The Chief was starting to get angry. "What in the hell are you talking about?!" he screamed. Then, Six disappeared. Dissapated. Disentigrated. Whatever. "What the fuck!" he screamed. "It's a hologram, John." Doctor Halsey said, laughing. "He was never here! He's busy!" As the Doctor continued laughing, John lost it all. He walked up to Doctor Halsey and picked her up by the throat. "That's it. I'm done. I'm fucking done!" he screamed. "I'm done taking everyone's shit! I've nearly been infected by the Flood, you almost got me killed and you're fucking saying Noble Six got away?! I'll kill you!" He tightened his grip on her throat. "Have you lost your mind, Spartan?!" he heard Mendez say. That's all he heard before he blacked out.

_Noble Six_

Six walked down the hallway of the Mother of Intervention. "Keep close, Tartarus." he said. The ship had been abandoned for years now and they were only here for one thing. They were walking to the morgue of the ship, which was deep in the ship's underbelly. They reached the morgue and stepped inside. Six walked over to one of the capsules and opened it. On the inside, there was a man in white armor, with brown secondary armor plates. He was also wearing an old, gold visor E.V.A. helmet. Six removed the helmet. Tartarus started to growl and make guttural clicks. "We need this guy because he was an expert with AI programs and suit enhancements." He gently touched the man's eyes and nose, which as a Flood Ambassador, would infect him to that degree. The man started to wake up, as Six placed the helmet back on his head. "Welcome back," Six said. "Agent Maine."

A/N: So, the Chief has sort of lost his marbles. And Noble Six revived the Meta. Tell me what you think about this. Also, another apology. Since I have school and all, I can't afford to spend all of my time writing for all you readers. So, until the next chapter!


	18. Chapter 17: Red Vs Blue All Over Again

Chapter 17: Red Vs. Blue All Over Again

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

_John-117_

The Chief began to come around. He woke up in Blue Base, with his wrists tied behind him. He tried to pull lose, but whoever tied it knew what they were doing. "So, you're awake?" he heard a female voice say. He looked over to see Cortana standing in the corner. He immediately stopped struggling at the sight of her. "It's just you." he said, sighing. "What's going on?" he asked. "How long have I been out?" Cortana walked over to him and sat down. "You've been out for a while now. About a day, I think." she said, sniffling. "You sound like you've been crying." he said. She nodded. "I have been crying." she aid. "Why?" he asked. "What's going on?" She continued sniffling. "The Reds, Blues and 'neutral people' are voting whether or not they should kill you!" she said. "What? Why?" he asked. "Because you attempted to kill Doctor Halsey!" she said, starting to sob. "But she deserved it. She attempted to get me killed."

"I know!" she said. "But they disagreed after they heard her story, the fucking bitch." He nodded. "Who is voting to keep me alive?" he asked. "And everything else?" She pointed at a big piece of paper on the wall. "There's a list. " she said. "Agent Carolina is neutral. She doesn't see you as really important, I guess." He nodded. "Go on." he said. "Lopez was automatically put on the vote to kill you," she said. "as he pretty much hates everyone." He nodded. "Doctor Halsey votes to keep you alive. Since you're the original Spartan. Kind of." she said. "That is bullshit." he said. "Continue." Cortana nodded. "Grif is voting to kill you, only because Sarge told him to." she said. "Washington is voting to kill you. Because you attempted to beat him to death." He sighed. "He only has himself to blame." he said. "Continue." Cortana nodded. "I'm placing my vote on keeping you alive." she said, smiling. "Because, you know, well, that should be a no brainer."

"Yeah..." he said. "That makes perfect sense. Since, we're kind of a thing." she laughed. "Tucker ended up voting to kill you, but he says it was an accident." she said. "He thought the 'Anti-Chief' and 'Pro-Chief' teams were joking about this." He nodded. "So, Tucker's okay?" he asked. She nodded. "He woke up a few hours ago." she said. "Donut has voted to keep you alive. He see's you as a good 'Captain' and a good person." He nodded. "Well, at least someone thinks highly of me." Cortana just giggled and nodded. "Mendez has a strong vote on killing you." she said. "Because you attempted 'murder' on Doctor Halsey." John sighed in anger. "I already stated the obvious." he said. "The bitch tried to get me killed. She deserved her fate." Cortana nodded. "I know. She doesn't deserve to live." she said. "But I need to talk to her, before we attempt to vote for or against her execution."

"What would you possibly need to know from her?" he asked. "I need to know who I am, John." she said. "I know who you are." he said. "You're my girlfriend. Person I'm seeing. Possible wife?" She blushed as she laughed. "Although I'm flattered to be called your girlfriend, as I've always wanted to be with you," she said. "there's more to it than that." John was confused now. "What more is there?" he asked. "I need to know why I can't access all of my memories." she said. "And why I have memories that aren't mine." He sighed. "Obviously, I'm not the one who could tell you that." She laughed. "Well, no duh! Let's get back to the subject." she said. "Doc has voted to keep you alive, on the note that he's a conscientious objector." He was confused. "A what?" he asked. "He's a pacifist." she said. "He's a thing that babies suck on?" Donut asked, walking into the base. "No, he opposes war on all grounds." Cortana said. "Right." Doc said, walking in behind Donut. "She nailed that."

"Anyway, back on topic. Caboose was automatically made neutral with Agent Carolina." Cortana said. "Church did this, as he didn't want to be pummeled by so many questions." John sighed. "Typical Church." he said. Cortana nodded. "Tex has voted to keep you alive, as she sees you as a badass like she is." she said. "Simmons has voted to kill you. Again, because Sarge told him to." John shook his head in anger. "Sarge can't make them do that. It's just wrong." he said. "I know." Cortana said. "For whatever reason, Church has voted against your life." He shook his head. "Church won't get a thank you for that." he said. "And as weird and fucked up as it sounds, Sarge is voting on keeping you alive." John sat straight up. "What the fuck?!" he asked. "So, he votes on keeping me alive, but forces Grif and Simmons to vote opposite? What the hell?!" Cortana nodded. "So, those are the people that are with and against me?" Donut cleared his throat. "Don't forget the neutral team."

"Whatever." the Chief said. He looked up at the poster that labeled the new teams and members. He read it to himself. _Pro-Chief: Doctor Halsey, Cortana, Donut, Doc, Tex, Sarge._ _Anti-Chief: Lopez, Grif, Washington, Tucker, Mendez, Simmons, Church. Neutral: Carolina, Caboose._ He sighed. "The votes to keep me alive are outnumbered by one." he said. "Face it, Cortana. I'm as good as dead." She sighed. "Maybe. But I convinced the opposing forces to give you one last hearing." she said. "To plead for you're innocence." He laughed. "I won't be pleading." he said. "What will you be doing then?" she asked. "You'll see." Donut walked over to them. "Hey guys." he said grimly. "It's time." Cortana nodded. "Okay." she said, untying the Chief. He rubbed his hands. "Don't try anything funny." she said. "It'll be the death of you." He nodded. "Noted." he said, as they led him outside. They led him to the river, where the opposing team was waiting. "Don't try anything funny," Mendez said coming up to them. "We will kill you." He nodded.

"Well?" Mendez asked. "Your last words?" The Chief shook his head. "If they came to hear me plead," he said. "they will be sorely disappointed. I'm going to say that we don't have time for this bullshit." Mendez grunted. "Care to elaborate, dirtbag?" he asked. "You're asking me what I mean?" he asked. "You guys are idiots." Mendez pistol-whipped the Chief in the arm. "Fucking elaborate than!" he said. He turned to Mendez. "You want me to elaborate?" he asked. "You people should already know!" Donut walked up to the Chief. "We should know what, exactly?" he asked. "That the galaxy is at stake!" the Chief said. "Don't you understand? Noble Six is plotting something! You people don't have time for this!" Sarge walked up to the Chief. "Good golly Miss. Molly, he's right!" he said. "When I was on that ship, Noble Six told me that he played both sides of the field and that the Gravemind brought him back to life as an ambassador of sorts!"

"Fuck it, he's right." Church said, as he jumped off a rock across the river. "I'm switching sides." Mendez started firing his Pistol at Church. "What the hell?!" Church and the Chief said at the same time. "You can't switch sides!" Mendez said as he reloaded. "You decided to vote to kill him!" Mendez continued firing at Church. "And now I'm deciding to change my vote!" Church said, as he fired his Sniper Rifle at Mendez. Direct miss. "We don't have time for this shit!" Mendez continued firing at Church. "Watch who you're firing at!" he said. "I am your leader!" Tucker jumped off the rock that the Anti-Chief's were standing on. "Yeah?" he asked, taking out his Energy Sword. "Who the fuck voted you leader?!" The Pro-Chiefs and the Anti-Chiefs starting pointing their weapons at each other.

All of a sudden, someone who wasn't on a team fired their Battle Rifle. All of the former Reds and Blues turned to look at Carolina, the barrel of her Battle Rifle smoking. "Enough! Now that I have everyone's attention." Carolina said, reloading her Rifle. "You people are wasting your time. I don't see a point in doing this. You are all stupid and I think the Chief had his reasons for attacking Doctor Halsey." Mendez fired and almost shot Carolina, but she was gone before the bullet could even touch her. "The Chief betrayed the UNSC!" Mendez said. "He attempted to kill Doctor Catherine Halsey, a UNSC doctor!" The Chief was getting angry. "Who attempted to kill him!" Cortana yelled. "Everybody, just shut the fuck up!" John screamed as loud as he could. "Calm down, John!" Cortana said. "What's your problem?" John looked at everyone, not caring about how what he was about to say would affect them.

"You people are my problem! You are all just one small piece of the puzzle that annoys me on a daily basis! I've been nearly infected by the Flood, I dragged Grif's body, Sarge's body, Church's body, Donut's body, Mendez's body, and Washington's body across a barren wasteland and I don't even get a word of thank you in edge wise! I got shot in the back by the doctor that was the only mother I've ever known!" he sreamed, as everyone had gone silent at this point. "First off," he said, as he turned to Doctor Halsey. "You attempted to get me killed! What the hell is wrong with you?! What the hell happened to your humanity? Have you gone insane?!" She just stared at him. "John, I-" she started, but his temper flared even more. "Shut up! Just everybody keep their comments to themselves!" he said. He turned to look at Donut. "What the hell are you?" he asked. "Are you a homo? Are you straight? What's with the pink armor, you girly son of a bitch?!"

"It's-" Donut started to respond, but the Chief was faster. "Shut the hell up! Did you not hear me before?!" he said. He turned to face Doc. "How are you even a medic? You know nothing about medicine! How did Donut even survive being shot in the stomach? Go back to school and get that degree in medicalogy or whatever it is!" Doc just sighed and nodded, not having anything to say. John turned to look at Tex. "I, uh, I'll come back to you." he said, as she just laughed. He turned to look at Sarge. "Sarge, the rag-tag dick leader of 'Red Team'." he said. "What the fuck is wrong with you Sarge? What made you think you can force most of your team to vote against my life and then you just vote to keep me alive? What has gotten into you?!" Sarge just looked down at his feet. He turned to Lopez. "Lopez. Learn some fucking English!" he said. "The end." As usual, Lopez said something that no one understood.

"Grif, you are a fucking idiot and a slob." he said, looking at the Orange Spartan. "You are lazy, you don't follow orders and I can't fucking stand it!" Grif let out a grumble. "Fuck you too, Chief." he hissed. "Agent Washington!" he said, turning to the Black and Orange Spartan. "You were a good soldier at first!" he said. "But then you just had to go and fuck everything up! If it weren't for you, Sarge would still have his legs!" He turned to look at Tucker. "Cortana was right about you and so was Church." he said. "You are a fucking perv! You don't respect women at all! Your always talking about getting in bed with two or more ladies!" He turned to look at Mendez. "CPO Mendez, no one other than you could make a better trainer!" he said. "But have your years in military service blinded you sir?! Doctor Halsey is a traitor! She tried to kill me!"

Mendez sighed. "Maybe." he said. "Maybe we overlooked it." The Chief scoffed. He turned to look at Church. "You are an AI encased in a robot body, Private Church." he said. "When we were in Antarctica, you refused to go into the base with us. You are a fucking robot! You can't feel the cold! You just made a fucking excuse! And I bought it!" He turned to look at everyone. "You guys are wasting time voting whether or not I should be killed." he said. "Maybe I should die. But now isn't the time. We have to kill Noble Six, before he helps the Gravemind raise an army! And he's probably already done it!" Mendez sighed. "He's right." he said. "Now is not the time. We have to-" Just then they were interrupted by screaming. "Oh god, oh god, ohhhhh goooood!" someone screamed. "What the fuck," Church said. "was that?!" Then they heard the explosions. The Chief lost his anger and looked to the source of sounds. He saw a Spartan in Light Brown Armor running towards them. "Run away! I thought I could contain him! The end is extremely nigh!" he screamed.

The Chief ignored the fact that this could be the last thing he would ever do. He grabbed Noble Six by the throat as he ran into his grasp. "Chief!" Mendez said. "Don't make my men and I kill you!" The Chief turned to look at him. "Kill me if you want." he said. "I'm just doing my job." He turned back to Noble Six. "Talk. Tell us why you are here!" Noble Six grabbed the Chief's hands. "Now isn't the time! They're headed this way!" he said. "Tartarus and the M-" The Chief tightened his grasp on Noble Six's throat and dropped him. "You are useless." he said, turning to Mendez. "Still voting to kill me?" he asked. Mendez pointed his Pistol at the Chief's visor. The Chief awaited the shot. "No." he said, as he lowered his Pistol. "If you can prove yourself, we will drop the charges of attempted murder." _Attempted murder? What the hell... She attempted to get me killed!_ "You have my word, sir." he said. "Make one wrong move and we will kill you. Do we understand each other, Chief?" Mendez asked. He nodded.

"Uh, Mendez?" Cortana asked. "What's that?" John looked in the direction that Mendez and Cortana were looking in. He saw the hybrid of a Elite and Brute coming up the rise from Red Base. "You had to bring that thing here?!" Donut said. "It's not a thing! His name is Tartarus!" Noble Six said. "How would you know that?" the Chief asked. "Because I worked with him," he said. "Before they turned on me!" The Chief looked at him. "Before who turned on you?" Washington asked. "Tartarus and-" Noble Six was speaking in a surprising panicked voice. "Okay, calm down." John said. "Mendez get me and this guy a weapon. We'll continue this later." John was thrown a SMG, which may be ineffective in this state. He'd just have to see. "Well, where's his friend?" John asked, pointing his SMG at the horizon. "He should have been here by now." Noble Six said, getting up as he was thrown a Pistol.

John started walking forward and he signaled Tucker to follow him. "The rest of you keep Tartarus busy." he said. "Tucker and I are going to look for his little buddy." Tucker cleared his throat. "Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow." he said. The Chief just sighed in frusteration. "Alright, you heard the man!" Sarge said. "Let's lock an' load!" The Chief and Tucker broke into a light jog, as they heard the others open fire on Tartarus. "Who do you think Tartarus is hanging out with?" Tucker asked. John just grunted. "I have no idea. But he's no friend of mine!" he said. They walked over to Red Base and took cover by the wall. "Ok." Tucker said, getting out his Energy Sword. "On your mark!" John nodded as he put a fresh clip into his gun. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Mark!" he said. The Chief and Tucker rushed from their hiding spot, to face the threat. As soon as they saw the Spartan, Tucker freaked the hell out.

"Oh, shit! Gotta go!" he said, taking off in the direction they came in. "Welcome to the neighborhood! See you later!" The Chief turned around, to watch Tucker run like hell back to base. "Hey!" he called. "Where are you going, Tucker?" He turned back to the White-Armored Spartan. "Sorry about him." he replied. "I guess he doesn't like meeting new people. What's your name soldier?" The Spartan let out a growl that the Chief couldn't understand. "Uh, say again?" he asked. The Spartan ignored the Chief and attempted to hit him with the blade on the Bruteshot he was using. The Chief was faster and grabbed the butt of the weapon and forced it back towards the Spartan. "Are you out of your mind?!" he said, kicking him in the stomach. This caused the Spartan to stumble and the Chief had enough time to shoot the Spartan in the stomach. The Spartan let out an agonizing growl of pain, as the Chief saw blood coming from the rubber-like layer of armor. Unfortunately, the blood was a _pale-greenish_ color.

"Oh, Christ." the Chief said. "He's infected!" He continued to fight against this anonymous Spartan. The Spartan lunged at the Chief once again, but he dodged at the last second, causing the Bruteshot's blade to get lodged into the wall of Red Base. The Chief fired into the Spartan's side, which temporarly incapacitated him. The Spartan fell to his knees and just stood there. The Chief took this oppurtunity to head back in the direction he and Tucker had come in. As he ran, he reloaded the SMG. He eventually got back to where the Reds and Blues were at, trying to subdue Tartarus. "What's down there, Chief?" Carolina asked. "What, Tucker didn't say anything?" he asked. She shook her head. "Tucker's over there, not doing anything." she said, pointing. The Chief looked over to Tucker, to see him rocking back in forth on the ground, holding his knees. "Jesus Christ." he said, as he helped subdue Tartarus. "So, I'll say it again." Carolina said. "What did you find?" The Chief sighed. "It was just another infected Spartan." he said. "Another?" Church asked. "Well, that's original."

"Just be ready when he, her or it gets up here." the Chief said. "What's it look like?" Sarge asked. "It's primary armor plates are White. Secondary are Brown." he said. "Oh and he wears a E.V.A. Helmet." Washington stopped firing his Battle Rifle and looked at the Chief. "Did you say an 'E.V.A. Helmet'?" he asked. "Yeah." the Chief said. "Why?" Washington just continued to stare at the Chief. "Fuck..." he said, running off towards Red Base. He stopped at the rise and started sprinting back. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" he shouted as he ran back to the group. "What's going on?" the Chief asked, as he crouched next to Washington as he caught his breath. "That's not any regular Spartan, as you called him! That's the-" Washington was speaking, but Carolina interrupted him as the Spartan came up the rise. "You revived the Meta?!" she screamed at Noble Six. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" All of the Reds and Blue open fired on the revived Meta, but it did no good. The Meta just kept coming. "How the fuck can you kill it?!" Church said, as he fired at the Meta with the Sniper Rifle.

"You can't!" Noble Six said. "He's exactly like me! He'll just heal, like I do." The Chief frowned. He walked over to Noble Six. "Hey, Six?" he asked. Noble Six had stopped firing his Magnum and looked at the Chief. "Yeah?" The Chief lowered his weapon. "We'll help you out with this, but afterwards, you owe us a explanation!" Noble Six nodded. "You'll get an explanation." he said. "Just not right now." All of a sudden, a shot was fired in between them. Both of them looked to the source of the sound, to see Sarge holding a Pistol. "We would appreciate it if you helped out, boys!" he said, switching to his Shotgun and reloading. "Donut!" the Chief said, as he ran over to the "not-so-manly" Spartan. Donut turned to look at the Chief. "What do ya need, Chief?" he asked. "Do what you do best, kid." he said, in a simple tone. Donut nodded, seeming to understand. "Good luck, kid!" the Chief said, as Donut ran towards Tartarus. The Chief honestly thought that he would have gotten killed. However, he would was proven wrong. Donut threw two Plasma Grenades that stuck to Tartarus. "Hell yeah!" Donut said. "Six points you dirty whore!"

Tartarus freaked out as Donut dove to cover and the grenades exploded. Tartarus stumbled and fell on one knee. The Chief took this oppurtunity to start shooting Tartarus. He started to bleed bluish-purplish blood as he was shot. The Chief ran up to the Meta, as Tartarus made a slow recovery. He grabbed the Bruteshot the Meta was holding, once he got to him. The two faught over the Bruteshot for what seemed like ages. Finally, he Chief won the fight by kicking the Meta in the stomach as the struggle continued. "You know, I thought you would have predicted that!" the Chief said. The Meta just let out a growl, as John gained the upperhand. He ripped the Bruteshot from the Meta's hands and used the blade to slash through the Meta's lower stomach. The Meta let out an extremely pained growl, as he fell over. John took the time to run back to Tartarus, who had nearly recovered. As he reached Tartarus, using all of his sheer strength, John lodged the Bruteshot as deep into Tartarus' back as he could.

Tartarus let out a long, loud, pained growl as he attempted to remove the foreign object lodged in his back. He started thrashing towards the Master Chief, but he was too clumsy with the blade in his back. All of a sudden, the Chief saw small explosions of purple blood along Tartarus' torso. The Chief looked behind him, to see Noble Six unloading his magazine into Tartarus' chest. "Just trying to help!" he said. "As long as you're _helping,_ I don't care what you do." the Chief said. The Meta had recovered from the Chief's attack and had healed. He ran over to Tartarus and _not_ gently pulled the Bruteshot from his back. Tartarus howled in pain as purple blood gushed from his wound. After he recovered a bit, he turned around and started to fight with the Meta. "Alright, thanks to what you did, they're distracted!" Noble Six replied, running over to him, holstering his weapon. "So it seems." the Chief said, turning to Noble Six and calmly pointing his SMG at him. "Okay, tell us what you want." he said. "I'll try not to shoot first. Now talk!"

Noble Six cleared his throat. "I'm sick of the Gravemind's hold on me." he said. "I have no idea why we are listening to you," Tucker said, finally recovering from his little mental breakdown and walking over to them. "since you nearly killed me, you know. But I'll bite. What do you expect us to do? Create a petition voting for the Gravemind to leave you alone?" Noble Six let out a short, shallow laugh. "No," he said. "you're gonna help me kill it!" Master Chief sighed. "How do you even kill a Gravemind?" he asked. "Uh, brainfart?" Church said, as the rest of the group walked up to them. "The best thing I can think about is using one of those Halo's you came across..." Mendez replied. The Master Chief stood up a little straighter, irritated at the mention of one of those Forerunner war machines. Even Cortana grimaced and whimpered at the mention of it. "What did I do?" Mendez asked in a confused tone. "Nevermind what you _did. _What the hell did you just suggest?!" the Chief said, raising his voice a bit. "I said we could try a Halo, what's so bad-" he started trying to explain himself, but he never got the chance.

"The thing that is so bad about one of those _things_," the Chief shouted, turning to face the CPO. "Is that it's more than Halo! On the ground, it looks like a lush, green landscape for miles and miles. The problem, is that underneath the surface, are dozens upon millions of dormant Flood specimens. And even if we activated Halo, it would destroy all sentient life in a pretty _big_ radius!" Mendez looked surprised and confused. "So, that rules-" The Chief interrupted. "Yes, that fucking rules it out!" he shouted. "Okay, okay." Washington said. "If the Halo idea is ruled out, I have an idea." he said. They all looked at Washington. "There is, uh, a catch. Isn't there?" Tucker asked. "Yes, dumbass." Washington said. "There is a catch. There is _always_ a catch." The Chief sighed. "Okay, Washington. Let's hear the catch." he said. "It, uh, involves, uh..." he kept stuttering. "Just say it!" Tex and Carolina shouted at the same time. "Hey, like mother like daughter, huh?" Tucker asked Church. Church laughed a little. "Yeah, defininetly." he said. "The catch, is that it involves Project Freelancer." Washington finally said.

Tucker immediately took off his helmet and threw both it and his DMR to the ground. "That's it!" he said. "I'm quitting the army!" Cortana quickly walked up to him and whispered something to him. "Oh, ok. I'm in!" he said. "What did you say to him?" Washington asked. "Doesn't matter." she said, walking back to John's side. "What did you say?" he whispered. "I told him I'd makeout with him." she whispered back. The Chief was stunned. "You didn't actually mean it did you?" he whispered. She started laughing. "Him? Are you kidding? No way!" she whispered. "Okay, so what's the plan Washington?" Tucker asked. "If we are going to fight the Gravemind, the Meta and possibly Tartarus, we would need some old Freelancer equipment." Tucker put his helmet back on. "Ok, _that_ I actually don't mind." he said. "But where would we find the equipment?" Washington sighed. "There are a few secret outposts left in the galaxy." Washington said. "However, to get access into each facility, you need the Director's password."

"Try Allison." Church said, in a 'Captain Obvious' tone. "Why Allison?" Washington asked. "I was based off of Allison." Tex admitted. "Allison, was the Director's lover. Problem is, she died. She was sort of the point of Project Freelancer. I see it as a point to revive her." Washington shrugged. "Makes sense. But we have to move, those two won't fight forever." he said. "Also, if we want to kill a Gravemind, I think I know a guy who could deliver information." Mendez said. "Who?" John asked. "Don't worry about it." Mendez shot back. "I still don't trust you." John nodded, stepping forward. "When all of this is said and done, we need a base camp." he said. "This is a base camp. I think we are fine." Caboose replied. The Chief sighed. "Look, Meta and Tararus are fighting here. And for all we could know, the Flood could be on the way here now!" he said. "Then where do you recommend?" Grif asked. "There's a place, if we could clear it out, I believe it would make a good base." John said. "Chief, oh God please don't say it." The Chief smiled. "People, pack your bags. Your going home." he said. "We're going to Blood Gulch." Grif sighed. "Nooo!" he yelled.

A/N: Full apology for not updating in a while. I've had a lot of homework lately. So, I can't promise that I am able to update regularly anymore. I will keep updating though, don't worry. So, the Reds and Blues have been shipped out! This is pretty much the final act of the story! And if I hadn't already told you, there is a sequel planned for this fanfiction! I can't tell you the plot or anything like that, but I may give some details eventually. So, until the next chapter and sorry for making you guys wait, so long!


	19. Chapter 18: Return to Blood Gulch

Chapter 18: Return to Blood Gulch

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

The Master Chief looked down into the giant canyon as the Pelican began the landing sequence. "Land us behind Blue Base." the Chief said. "It's the least populated area here." Noble Six nodded. "Yes, Chief." he said. "And just remember, one wrong move and we kill you." the Chief replied. "Noted." he said. "We will land in under a minute, people!" the Chief said, walking out into the main room of the Pelican where everyone sat. "All of you have volunteered for a suicide mission to help this man. Or beast. I don't know what he is." He looked at Sarge, Simmons, Donut, Grif and Tucker. "Lets see. A soldier that is half human half cyborg, a nerdy red soldier, a feminine acting soldier, a lazy fanboy and a pervert." he sighed. "May God help us all." The Chief felt the Pelican touch ground and quickly grabbed the safety handle on the ceiling to regain his balance. After the engine shut off, he spoke. "Let's move people!" he said. "We have a lot of ground to cover!" All of them jumped off the deck of the pelican, one by one and walked into the dry, hot, bloody gulch. The Chief walked towards Blue Base with his team behind him. _Why haven't they attacked us yet? They have no strategy or brain. At least I think they don't._

"Why haven't they attacked us yet?" Sarge asked the Chief, running up to him. Before the Chief could reply, of course, they attacked. "Sarge, I hate you." Tucker said. Sarge just let out a shallow laugh. "Oh, don't worry Bluetard. I hate you, too." As they fought the countless Carrier, Combat and Infection Forms, Donut began to freak out. "I want to go home!" he said. "This is home, Donut." the Chief said. "Now fight for it!" Donut sighed, as he threw a few Plasma Grenades. "Yes sir!" he said. "Good man!" the Chief said, as he shredded through the Combat Forms and Infection Forms with his Assault Rifle. _Who is Mendez's guy? The guy he said could have information on a Gravemind? _The Chief thought about this as he kept his finger on the trigger of his Rifle. He and his crew kept moving towards Blue Base. The Chief looked up at the wreck of the Spirit of Fire. _Is that where all of them come from?_ Noble Six ran up next to the Chief, killing two or three Carrier Forms. "Um, I have an answer to that." he said. "Not now." the Chief said, as reloaded his Rifle. "But this is serious!" Noble Six said in an angry tone. "Look, whatever you need to tell me, is not more serious than this!" Sarge blasted several Combat Forms with his Shotgun. "Yeah, so could you help out a little, meatsack?"

"Hey Sarge, I'm the reason you're alive! So I think you should show me some respect!" Noble Six shouted. "Both of you shut the hell up and get to work!" the Chief said angrily. They both shut up and started to fire again. The Chief was certain that Blood Gulch was infested with the Flood. The question was, could they clear it out? "Fuck this!" Tucker said, running forward. He activated his energy sword and started to cut through the Flood Combat forms. A Combat Form came up to Tucker from behind and started to hit him with it's decayed arm. "Tucker! Be careful!" the Chief said. "I'll help him." Sarge said, running forward as he cocked his Shotgun. He blasted the Combat Form that was attacking Tucker from behind. "Ow! Son of a bitch!" Tucker said, holding the sides of his helmet. "Do you really have to fire that close to me?" he said. Sarge just chuckled. "Oh grow a pair, blue tard!" he said. "Fuck you, too Sarge. Why must these things always happen to me?" Tucker said. "What do you mean you?" Simmons replied. "You should be talking about Grif! He's the one that Sarge hates the most!" Tucker just shrugged. "Who said Grif? Where's Grif?" Sarge said, cocking his Shotgun. "Sarge, we were just having a conversation!" Simmons replied. "Yeah, I was just mentioned in the conversation!" Grif said. "Don't bullshit me, Simmons! I heard Grif!" Sarge said, ignoring what Grif had said.

"Just shut up!" the Chief growled angrily. "You got it Sir!" Grif said, firing multiple rounds with his Battle Rifle. "Grif! I'm your commanding officer, not him!" Sarge shouted. "Oh, fuck off Sarge! The Master Chief is a better CO than you!" Grif said. "Although I really appreciate the compliment Grif, now is really not the time!" John replied. "The Chief is right. I'll kill you later Grif!" Sarge said. "No you won't." John said. "Ok. How about bruising him up a little?" Sarge asked. John shook his head. "What about berating him?" Sarge asked. "No." John said. "Wait. Maybe." Sarge just laughed and continued shooting the Flood Combat Forms that were attacking them. "I like the way you think, Johnny-Boy." Sarge said. Hundreds kept coming and hundreds kept being put down by John and his crew. "I don't understand." John said. "Why are they trying to push us out of Blood Gulch? They have nothing to fight for here! They recieve no benefit of holding Blood Gulch!" That's when everything stopped. All of the Combat Forms retreated back to Blue Base. "What's going on?" Tucker said, lowering his Battle Rifle. "Why have they stopped?" John and his crew all looked up at the roof of Blue Base, to see the monstrousity that is Specimen 789 walk up to the roof, accompanied by two infected Elites in Gold Armor. As soon as 789 appeared, every Flood Form except for his Elites kneeled at his presence.

"Oh shit." Grif said. "What does he want?" They weren't attacking, just standing there. "I'm not trusting this men. Open fire!" John said, raising his Assault Rifle towards 789. They were about to fire, but 789 started to speak in an unknown language. "Our overlord has a message for you." One of the Golden Elites said in English. "No." Noble Six said in an ominous tone. "No? No what? What's does no mean?" Grif asked. "Yes. Please do explain Noble Six." John said. "Tartarus has taken control of the army that the Gravemind provided me." Noble Six said, in a fearful tone. "He is right." the Gold Elite said. "Tartarus took over the Flood Army?!" the Chief said, pointing his Assault Rifle at Six, followed by his troops doing the same. "I had no idea this would happen." Noble Six said. "Bullshit!" the Chief said, cocking his Rifle. "Good me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now!" Tartarus let out a roar of some foreign language, getting the crew's attention. "Silence!" the Elite roared, as the crew looked back up to Tartarus and his Elites. "Tartarus and the Gravemind knew you would return. That's why we are here. And we have a proposition for you." Tucker activated his Energy Sword and ran forward towards Blue Base. "That's a bunch of bullshit!" he said, as he ran up the wall to attack. As soon as he reached Tartarus, the Brutish Flood Form punched Tucker in the chest, sending him flying towards the back of the canyon. Tartarus's mandibles clicked. "Infect him." the Elite said. A Flood Infection Form started to crawl down the wall, towards Tucker's motionless body. "Wait!" John said, dropping his Rifle as he ran forward.

"You mentioned something about a propostion!" John said. "Let's make a deal! If we comply, will you let Tucker live?" Tartarus just stood there, seeming to be grumbling. He eventually let out a booming voice, followed by the Elite speaking. "Intriguing. We will proceed." the Elite said. "We plan to keep holding Blood Gulch with reinforcements from our Outpost. We will keep trying to fight you off as we see fit. We know this is a crucial place for you and we won't let you have it." John cleared his throat. "How are you getting reinforcements?" he asked. Tartarus continued to boom in a foreign language. "We get new infected troops everyday to fight for our cause." the Elite said. "What is your cause?" John asked. Tartarus let out an angry roar. "Enough talk! We order you to leave and take your unconscious ally with you. Oh and you will hand Noble Six over to us. He is a traitor and cannot be allowed to live." the Elite said. "Yes, yes. This is all good and dandy." Donut said, speaking for the first time. "But when can we have our home back?' Tartarus looked at Donut, letting out a questioning grunt, followed by more grunts. "What do you mean 'when can we have our home back?'?" the Elite said. "You do not get to have your home back. You hand over Noble Six, take your ally and leave, never come back and wait out the downfall of the universe." John picked up his Assault Rifle. "See you in hell!" he said, firing at Tartarus and his Elites. Tartarus let out a roar of pain and anger, as he pointed to them. "Destroy them!" the Elite said, as Tartarus lifted up his Fuel Rod Cannon. Before the Flood could do anything, Tartarus pointed above them, as a grenade was launched from behind them, knocking Tartarus and the Elites out of sight. John turned around, to see the Meta descending from the cliffs. "Run! Get to the Warthog!" Sarge said, running away from Blue Base. "Get the Bluetard!" John snapped out of the daze and ran to Tucker, lifting his motionless form up and onto his shoulders. "Shotgun!" Grif said. "God damnit!" Simmons said in an angry tone. He ran towards the Warthog that Sarge was busy getting running.

"What's the plan?" Sarge said, as John put Tucker in the back with Simmons on the gun. "Make sure Tucker makes it through!" John told Simmons, before turning to Sarge. "I have no idea, we need a place to hide. That's all I know." Sarge hopped in the driver seat and sighed. "We'll go to hide out in the caves. I don't know where else to go at this point." he said. "You lead the way." John said, as he and Donut got on a Mongoose. Noble Six mounted another Mongoose. Once Grif had gotten into the Shotgun seat, Sarge took off, John following behind him. The Flood were more focused at shooting the Meta at the moment, but a few Combat Forms tried to prevent their escape. Once they got close to the cave opening, the tricky part came. "Oh shit!" Grif said, as they narrowly dodged a rocket. John drove towards the Combat Form that had fired it and stood up, balancing on the mobile vehicle. Once he got close to the Combat Form, John jumped, allowing the Combat Form to be run over. "Go go go!" Sarge called out, as he slowed down for the Chief and Donut to run into the cave. John ran into the cave, followed by Sarge smashing the Warthog into the wall of the opening of the cave, causing the Warthog to tip over, ejecting Sarge, Simmons, Grif and Tucker. The ground began to shake, as rocks from the arch of the opening fell onto the Warthog, sealing the exit. John and the fellow Spartans turned on the flashlights that were installed in their helmets. "What the hell was that, Sarge?" John asked, turning to see him. "You trapped us in here!" Sarge just laughed. "Chief, I just sealed the opening. This tunnel leads to a gigantic cavern underneath the canyon, with a tunnel up to Red Base as well. We just have to do an hour of walking."

John sighed. _Great. We're trapped in a tunnel, Tucker is unconscious and our worst enemy is outside just waiting for us. _"Ok. See if you can get Tucker to wake up. I'm gonna radio Washington and see how their progress is coming along." he said. With that in mind, he walked over to a less crowded area of the tunnel. He got onto the radio. "Come in Washington. Come in Washington. This is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 seeking contact with Washington." he said. After a bit of interference from the other end, Washington responded. "This is Washington, reading you loud and clear. What's happening over there Chief?" he asked. "We're sitting ducks Wash." John said. "Tartarus, that Covenant hybrid has taken over the Flood Army that was meant for Noble Six. We both know that he is on our side. However, we are trapped in a cave system, after the Meta ambushed our talk with the hybrid." Washington sighed on the other end. "Sounds rough. And I can't help you in any way." he said. "What about you and the others?" John asked. "I don't know about Mendez and his crew, but Tex, Carolina, Church and I have made it to the facility we mentioned the other day." Washington said. "We'll let you know when we got what we came for. Wash out."

_Epsilon-Church_

"Hey." Church said to Washington he got off the radio. "Hmm? Oh, hey Church. What is it?" Washington asked. "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" Church asked. Washington just stared at him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Here! In this backup Freelancer Storage Facility? We've gotten caught up in this battle against forces that no one here but the Master Chief understands. A battle for the galaxy it seems!" Church said. "Well, shouldn't you ask John this question instead?" Washington asked. "No, no, no. I mean, why are we in this battle? What's in it for us? Is there a purpose? Or will we die fighting against these mutant alien zombie shits?" Church asked. Washington shrugged. "Maybe the thrills? Fame, like the fame we got for bringing down Project Freelancer? Who knows?" Washington said. "If you ladies are through gossiping, we need to get this door open!" Tex said in an angry tone. "Okay, okay. We're coming." As they walked over to the door where Tex and Carolina were standing, Church just stared at Washington. He eventually noticed and looked at Church. "What? I answered your fucking question!" he said. "No, no. Not that. Tucker? Isn't he gonna say his thing?" Church said. "Oh, right. He's not here." Washington groaned. "Very funny." he said, as they reached the door. "Wash, you're up." Carolina said. "Got it." Washington said, kneeling to start picking the lock on the door. "This would be so much easier if York were here." Carolina fell silence and let out a small grunting sound, as if she were holding back tears.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Washington said. "It's fine. It doesn't mean anything to me. Just get to work on that lock!" Carolina said. "Of course." Washington said, as he got back to the lock. The lock cracked after thirty seconds of work. "Alright, we're in." Washington said, as he rose. "You know Mate, York would have had that done in ten seconds." Church said, in a British accent. "Oh, shut up. And since when are you British?" Tex asked. "Um, I don't know where that came from." Church replied. He just watched Tex shrug and walk away. He followed Washington, Tex and Carolina into the abandoned Freelancer Outpost. The lights were out and the team had to turn on their helmet lights to guide them through the blackness. "How old do you think it is? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?" Church asked. "Church, this Outpost is about as old as Project Freelancer itself. What has gotten into you?" Washington asked. "Nothing. Where's your sense of adventure?" Church asked. "Shut up. Both of you." Tex said. They continued to walk, until they came to an archive room. Church was the first to go in and turn on the light, surprised to find out that it actually turned on. They all walked over to the back of the room, where a giant computer monitor and keyboard were installed. "Can you activate it?" Carolina asked. Church scoffed. "Really? It's me, Epsilon remember? The fragmented memories of the Alpha and the rest of the AI. Of course I can activate it." he said. "Okay. A simple yes would have done it." Tex replied.

Church left his body, as it fell to the ground. He tried to speak or move in his AI form, but he couldn't. And to make matters worse, his vision was flickering. "Church are you there?" Carolina's voice rang out. He tried to respond, but he couldn't. "Church where are you?" Carolina asked once again. He was finally able to respond, after about thirty seconds. "Yeah, I'm here." he finally said. "Jesus! What took you so long to respond?" Tex asked. "Um, I don't know. I've been running pretty slow lately." Washington looked at him. "Are you worried?" Washington asked. Church shrugged. "I don't know. Should I be worried?" he asked. Washington just shrugged. "Hook yourself up to the computer, Church." Carolina said. "Right." he said, as he ran into the computer and merged with it's system. He could see everything. He saw little glowing lights, that obviously represented the hardware of the computer. He attempted to enter the archives, however, a pop-up stopped him. The pop-up told him that entering the archives required a username and password. Since he was Epsilon, the AI fragment that held the memorys of the Alpha, he relatively had an idea what the username and password was. In the username slot, he entered Dr. Leonard Church. For the password, he tried Allison. He kind of wished he hadn't done that.

_Allison! Allison! Allison! Allison!_ _Allison!_ He heard the AI fragments screaming and he shuddered at the sound of it. Once he attempted to login, he was more or less surprised to see that it accepted the username and password. He started to scroll through the listings of archived files on troopers, locations and so many other things. _Church, Washington, VIC, The Director, Counselor Price, Tex, The Meta, Carolina, Kimball? Kimball, how are they in the system? They have nothing to do with the Program! Anyway, Doyle, Sharkface, Felix, Locus, Chairman Hargrove, Blood Gulch, Sidewinder, Valhalla, Rat's Nest, Command, Mother of Intervention, so much stuff!_ "Church?" Tex asked. "Yeah, I'm here." he said. "Try to look for Armor Enhancements!" Washington said. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." he said. He "scrolled" through all the files that he could see. "There!" Washington said. "Armor Enhancements!" Church mentally nodded and clicked on it. "How much of it do you need?" he asked. "All of it. I need information on all of the armor enhancements and where in this place we can find them." Washington told him. "On it." Church said, as he saved the files. He was about to speak when he noticed something. Something that shouldn't have been there. _Hey... why are there files on the Master Chief in here?_ "Hey, guys? Should there be files on the Master Chief in here?" Church asked. "I don't know..." Washington said. "Just save them." Church was going to save them, but his curiousity overcame him. He opened one of the files and began to read. "No. No. This isn't possible." he said. "What? What is it Church?" Tex asked. "It's the Chief! It's not possible! H-he's a-"

A/N: Cliffhangers for days. I hate to end it here, but what do you think Church has found out? I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter! And please follow/favorite the story, as it will help not only me, but _you_ out as you'll most likely never miss a chapter! Also, go ahead and drop me a review! That is always appreciated! I'm going to though, so have a good day and, bye.


	20. Chapter 19: 343 Guilty Spark

Chapter 19: 343 Guilty Spark

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello and welcome back to another long awaited chapter! First of all, I want to thank my readers. This story has gotten 17 Reviews, 40 Followers, 38 Favorites and on top of all that, 18,268 Views overall. That's amazing! Well, when you think about it, Halo _plus_ Red Vs Blue is a recipe for success, but only if you do it right. And this story is obviously one of those cases. But anyway, in this chapter, maybe not coming from Epsilon, you'll know the truth about John-117. But anyway, I hope you do enjoy the chapter, and it'd be great if I could continue to get more favorites and followers for the story, that would be phenomenal! So, let's get into the chapter!

_Doc_

Doc was walking with Doctor Halsey, Caboose, Cortana and Mendez into in the halls of the _UNSC Tartarus_. "Mendez. Why are we here?" Doctor Halsey asked. "Oh, lot's of people ask that all of the time." Caboose answered for Mendez. "Here we go." Cortana said with a sigh. "Most of the responses are that almighty Gods created the universe in the palm of their hands and allowed our creation to expand the universe and that we all worship them for it." Caboose said. They all stopped walking and Mendez looked Caboose dead in the visor. "Soldier, where the bloody hell have you been?" he asked. "Oh, lots of places really. I've been to Blood Gulch, a tri-factory, a best friend store, a-" Mendez sighed, interrupting Caboose. "Forget it, soldier." he said. "Doctor-" he started, but Doc and Doctor Halsey both interrupted Mendez. "Which Doc?" they both asked, miserably failing to avoid laughing. "I was talking to Doctor Halsey, thank you Medical Officer DuFrense." Mendez said, turning to Doctor Halsey.

_Doctor Halsey_

"Why did you bring us here?" she asked. "Do you know what Tartarus is Doctor?" he asked, turning away from her. "Um, no. I never really researched the name." Doctor Halsey replied. "What does that have to do with us being here?" Mendez sighed, as he gripped his wrist behind his back. "I suppose you are not familair with the battle of the Greek Gods and Titans then. Well, the story goes that Kronos, the King Titan ate his children in fear that they would one day overthrow him. His wife Rhea hid baby Zeus, and he grew up in secret. One day, when Zeus was all grown up, he tricked Kronos into vomiting up his siblings who had been growing up in Kronos stomach, as they were immortal, using a mixture of mustard and wine. They then fought the Titans, eventually overthrowing them." Mendez said. "Kronos got the worst of it. He was cut into a thousand pieces with his own scythe. And he was cast into the worst prison in history. The depths of Tartarus, in the underworld." She shuddered, thinking she'd heard that multiple times. But she couldn't remember. "Tartarus... That's the uh, name of this cruiser isn't it?" she asked.

"Indeed it is." Mendez said. "And said cruiser, is a prison cruiser, isn't it?" Doc asked, trying to get into the conversation. "It is, my dear Medic." Mendez replied. "So, why are we here, then?" Doctor Halsey asked. "The informant who has information on the Flood and the Gravemind is imprisoned here, Doctor." Mendez said. "Now if there are no more questions, I'd like to get going." he said. "Wait, I have one more question." she said. Mendez let out an angry sigh as he turned around to face her. "What? Is it really that important to slow our progress?" he asked, in an angry tone. "Yes. It is." she said. He let out a angry sigh. "Fine. What is it?" he asked. "CPO Mendez, I must ask, you look the same as I saw you last on Reach in November of 2525." Mendez looked worried. He itched the back of his head. "DuFrense! Private Caboose! Cor-" Caboose interrupted him. "Hey! That's Former Captain of Blue Base Private Caboose!" Caboose said. "We're not playing this game, soldier." Mendez said. "All of you hold your positions. We'll be back in a few minutes." Mendez placed his hand on her back and walked with her around a corner, into a vacant hallway. "Okay, so you're so curious why I'm so young?" he asked. "Yes, I am." Doctor Halsey said. "I'm nearly sixty-five. And you don't look a day over fifty."

"Doctor, how old do think I am?" Mendez asked. She narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'd say you'd have to be at least eighty-two years old today." she said. Mendez let out a sad sigh. "Well, I'm afraid you are correct, dear Doctor. I am indeed eighty-two years old." he said. "B-but that's impossible!" she said. "You don't look a day over fifty!" Mendez let out another sigh. "Well, it's time you understand how I've been able to stay young for the past twenty-five or so years." he said. "Do you remember how I had a smoking habit?" Doctor Halsey stifled a laugh. "Habit? I don't know if I'd call it a habit, Mendez. It was more of an addiction." she said, giggling. "Yes, I suppose it was. Now, this next part I am taking very seriously. So, I don't want to see you smile or laugh. Nothing." he said. "The day I saw John-117 last, I started coughing a lot. At first, I just shrugged it off. But, it didn't stop. It only got worst. So, I went to the UNSC doctors for help. And on November 14th, 2525, I was diagnosed with Lung Cancer." Her eyes widened. "But that isn't possible, Mendez!" she said. "If you had Lung Cancer, you wouldn't even be here right now!" Mendez let out a sigh. "I went to the UNSC once I found out about my condition. They told me they'd help me as much as they could. Chemotherapy, radiation or surgery even if it came to that, they'd help me with anything that could defeat it."

"That doesn't explain why you look so young." she said. "The UNSC Doctors cured my Lung Cancer. I was grateful. So grateful, you wouldn't even know. And they told me I owed them. I wasn't going to pay in money. I owed them a life debt. They told me that I would work in service of the UNSC for all eternity, with no chance at retirement." he finished. "For all eternity? But how? You are eighty-two years old!" she said. Mendez let out another sad sigh. "The UNSC knew that my old age would become a problem. So, they decided to eliminate that from the equation." Mendez replied. "How did they do that?" she asked. "They used a experimental drug serum, a new and improved version of the drug used for Project Resurgence." he said. "You promised we'd never speak about that." Doctor Halsey interrupted, in an angry tone. "What, the Project?" he asked. "Yes, the project!" she hissed at him. "Catherine, I- Can I call you Catherine?" he asked. "No, you may not." she said. "You may call me Doctor Halsey or Doctor. Whatever works for you." Mendez heaved an angry sigh. "Look, the drug serum they gave me slows my aging at a dramatic rate. I could age forty or fifty years, and it would hardly be noticeable." he said. "But about the project, it's been thirty or so years. I think it went well!"

"You can't say that, Mendez. Freelancer Agent Eridanus wasn't even supposed to be allowed to meet the Red and Blue soldiers of Project Freelancer! And now, here he is, caught in the middle of their conflict. The Reds, Blues and former Freelancers shouldn't be allowed to meet their predecessors! There was supposed to be a way these things worked, CPO Mendez! He was supposed to end up in Blood Gulch and he was supposed to band together with these soldiers, and see if he could actually work with them. And, it's worked. But, what if he begans to find what his true purpose is?" Doctor Halsey rambled on for a good minute. "You think he really will learn about his creation and the reason for his service?" Mendez asked, a surprising hint of fear in his voice. "Mendez, I think he is already picking up on his creations. I think he is beginning to remember his days in Project Freelancer." she said. "Impossible, Doctor. We wiped Agent Eridanus's memory! He can't remember his past!" Mendez said. "Mendez, when we were on Reach, wiping the memories of Agent Eridanus and his squadron, there was a little bug." she said.

"A little bug? What little bug do you mean?" Mendez asked. "There was a malfunction in the memory wiping process." she said. "They may start to remember their past experiences in the program." Mendez sighed angrily. "We're not talking about this, Doctor." he said. "Let's get back to the mission." Mendez said, as he walked back around the corner to the rest of their company. "Well, that was a long talk. May I ask what it was about?" Doc asked. "No Medical Officer Dufrense, you may not." Mendez said as he walked past the medic. "Let's get moving people."

_John-117_

"And then I said, 'Hey baby, want to play Titanic? I say iceberg and you go down!' Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" Tucker said, as Simmons and Grif helped him walk. Things weren't that different at the moment. John and his group were moving through the cave system beneath the canyon. "For the love of God, shut up!" Simmons said. "You're more annoying than my ex-girlfriend!" Grif turned to look at Simmons. "You had a girlfriend?" he asked. "No, you did. Oh wait, now I remember! You don't! The only thing close to a girlfriend you have is that annoying sister of yours!" Simmons exclaimed. "Hey, don't talk about my sister like that! She's the only family I had left and now she's dead!" Grif shouted angrily. "How can you be sure? We never found her body here when we got back from Chorus!" Grif let out an angry sigh. "Hey man, I would know if my sister were dead! I can feel it. She's gone!" he said. "What are you, physic?" Simmons asked. "So, where are the tunnels up to Red Base that you were talking about?" John asked, finally sick of their antics.

"It's on the other side of this big cave, sir!" Simmons said. "This cave was used to house the Virtual Intelligence Center. Or, V.I.C. as we called him, before we learned that our 'war' in Blood Gulch was nothing but a simulation." They all began to walk into the giant chamber, when John could of sworn he heard someone running. "Hey, I can walk now. You can let go." Tucker said. "Whatever you say Blue." Simmons said, as he and Grif pushed Tucker, causing him to fall. "Oh, that's good for the ribs. Thanks assholes." Tucker replied. "Don't mention it." Grif said. "Hey, did you guys hear that?" John asked. "Sounds like bats!" Grif said. "Or a snake." Simmons added. "Both of you, shut up!" Sarge said, as he lifted his Shotgun. "Don't fire till you see the Blue of their eyes!" That's when everything went to hell. "Wait, did you say Blue? Blue soldiers, maybe? Oh, son of a bitch." Simmons said. Just then, a group of four or five Blue Soldiers jogged past the Chief and his group. "Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds!" they all exclaimed as they jogged past.

_Hold on, are these the soldiers that Sarge told me about a couple weeks ago?_ They all turned around, to see Simmons walking back the way they came. "Um, Simmons?" Grif asked. "I don't want to have to deal with this today." he said. "Simmons, get back here! That's an order!" John called. "God damn it." Simmons said, as he turned back around and started walking back to the group. "Okay, men. Here's what we do. Sarge will lead the way to the other end of the cave. Just ignore the Red and Blue Spartans that are fighting each other. I repeat, do not engage the enemy unless they engage you first!" Grif snapped to attention and saluted the Chief. "Aye, aye Sir!" he said. "Kiss-ass." Simmons muttered. "Okay, men! Move out! Go, go, go!" John said. Sarge began to jog, with Simmons, Grif, Donut, Tucker, Noble Six and John following behind, in a single file line. Everything was going great, until Tucker was shot at. "Ow! Motherfucker!" he growled in pain.

"Oh, it's on now." Sarge replied, as he cocked his Shotgun. "Sarge is right, men! You are authorized to engage!" John said. Sarge opened fire, as he, Grif and Simmons ran for Warthog that was just sitting out in the open. Sarge hopped into the drivers seat, and Grif spoke. "Shotgun!" he said. "God damn it." Simmons replied, as he took the gunner position on the jeep. The three Reds drove towards the Blue Spartans that had sprinted past them. "We got you now, you Blue bastards!" Simmons exclaimed, before firing the turret. Two of the six Blue Spartans were downed, while the other four took cover behind walls, rocks, anything that could be found. Noble Six ran over to a Red Spartan that came into their view. At the sight of Six's discolored armor, the Red Spartan could noticeably seen flinching. He raised his Magnum. "I'm warning you to back off!" he said. Noble Six regarded the Soldier. "Do you want to see something really scary?" he asked, in a cold voice. Noble Six took off his helmet, revealing his Flood infected face. The Red soldier let out a scream of fear and ran off, waving his arms about. Six just laughed, as he aimed at him and gunned him down.

The Chief took the time to take cover by a boulder. He saw movement from behind him on his motion tracker, and he quickly grabbed a SMG lying on the cave floor to his left. He cocked it and moved out from cover. He was looking at three Red soldiers. "Hiya fellas." he said. "Who's first?" The three Red Spartans looked at eachother and then back at John. "Charge!" they all cried, as they ran foward, firing their various weapons. John opened fire on them, killing them in a matter of seconds. He dropped the SMG and took out his Assault Rifle. He heard someone activate an Energy Sword behind him and he turned around to see Tucker standing behind him. "Hey, Chief! That was pretty badass!" he said. John allowed himself to grin a little bit underneath his helmet. "What can I say?" he said, as he shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that one of the Red's was moving, after presumably being killed. "I learned from the best." he said, as he fired at he Red soldier, killing him this time. "Hrrrk! Bleh..." the Red let out a dying groan. "Come on, let's go find you friends and dispose of the rest of these rogues." the Chief said. "They're not really my friends, they're more like frenemies. Or acquaintances." Tucker said. "Whatever, Private Tucker. Come on." John said, as he ran off.

_Epsilon-Church_

"Cover me, Tucker. I'm going in." Church replied. "Are you sure that this is a good idea, Church?" Tucker asked. "Tucker, I'm an AI! Of course I think it's a good idea!" Church said. "Okay then. Go for it Church!" Tucker said. Church left his robot body and merged with the Master Chief's sleeping form. When he got inside the Chief's head, he was surrounded by nothing but white light, unlike Caboose's head. "I wonder what's going on in his head?" Church asked himself. "You shouldn't be here." a female voice spoke from behind him. If Church still had legs, he would have jumped. He turned around, to see a glowing blue female AI. The weird thing is, was that she was naked! Well, that's the way Church thought she looked. There were black stripes running all over her light blue form and it also looked like she had short, black hair. Well, short for a female anyway. "I didn't mean to frighten you if I did, Epsilon." the AI said. "How do you know my name?" Church asked. "Is it really something to question? Who do you think I am?" she asked, in a gentle tone.

A dozen thoughts ran through Epsilon's head all at once. But, all of his thoughts narrowed down to one possibility. "You're Cortana, the Master Chief's AI. Aren't you?" he asked. She smiled. "Your intelligence is great, for knowing that without hints." Cortana said. "Thank you for referring to him as Chief and not using his name." Church was confused. "How are you here?" he asked. "The Chief told us that you had been destroyed." Cortana's smile faded, replaced by a sad look. "You are correct. But also incorrect." she said. "I was destroyed. But I was able to leave one final copy of myself in the recesses of the Chief's brain. He just doesn't know I'm still here." Church was curious. "Can you tell him you are still here?" Church asked. Cortana shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I only have so much energy, and it's nearly impossible for me to activate the AI chip in his neural interface without damaging me or shutting myself down. And I'm slowly fading. I won't always be here." she said. "So, as much as I want to stay here and talk with you, you must leave. I won't be here much longer." Church nodded. "Okay." he said, as he left.

...

_Epsilon-Church_

"Epsilon! Are you there?" Carolina's voice rang out. Epsilon's vision flickered and he finally awoke. "Yeah. I'm here." he said, as he reappeared in front of Carolina, Tex and Washington. "Are you okay?" Washington asked. "I think so." Church said. "What happened?" Tex asked. "I told you. I've been running slowly lately." he said. "And you're not worried." Carolina said. "No. Should I?" he asked. Carolina shrugged. "So, you said something about John-117 before we lost you. Ring any bells?" Tex asked. "Yeah. He's a fake. John-117 is a fake. And one of us, too. No less." Church said. "What do you mean he's a fake?" Carolina asked. "And that he's one of us?" Washington added. "Well, his entire military history has been staged. I pulled all of this from his file. Sure, all the augumentations and stuff they did to him, that's real. But his entire military history was planned before all of this happened to him. And he's a freelancer like us. Freelancer Agent Eridanus to be exact." Church said. "Seriously?" Carolina asked, in a shocked voice. "Seriously, you can read the file for yourself." Church said. Before Carolina could respond, Washington stepped in. "We have no time. Save that file and the Freelancer files to a drive and eject it." he said. "Roger that." Church said, as he went through the process of transfering. "Done and done." Washington stepped forward and grabbed the chip.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Washington said. Church left the computer terminal and got back into his robotic body. Once Church was back up, the four of them began to jog back through the dark hallways of the abandoned base. Once they got outside, they were welcomed with a unwelcome surprise. Dozens of Flood Combat forms and Carrier Forms were standing outside waiting for them. "Fuck, it's the Flood! They must have tailed us here! Open fire!" Washington said, as he got his Battle Rifle ready. They all began to open fire on the advancing Flood Forms, with the exception of Church, as he stood there, beginning to question what was happening. "Church!" Washington said. "What's wrong? Open fire!" His shouts brought him to his senses, and he began to open fire on the Flood.

_Doctor_ _Halsey_

Doctor Halsey waited while Mendez spoke with the Marines guarding the door to the cell that he was wanting to get into. She waited some more, and finally Mendez walked back over to them. "Okay, we've been granted clearance. Let's move in." he said. The five of them walked into the cell, which was more like a big room. There was a single terminal on the wall at the end of the room, and they followed as Mendez approached it. "Construct!" Mendez barked. "Are you there?" After a few seconds, the terminal came to life and lit up blue. "Hello. I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation 04, how may I service you today?" the AI asked. "You have information that we need, Spark. But first we need to bust you out." Mendez asked. "A jailbreak? How enticing!" 343 Guilty Spark said. All of a sudden, it's as if Cortana had gone rampant again. Cortana grabbed Caboose's Assault Rifle from him and ran over to the terminal, and pointed the Rifle at it. "Cortana, don't!" Mendez exclaimed, walking over to her.

"You killed Sergeant Avery Johnson!" Cortana ignored Mendez, as she kept the Rifle trained on Spark. "And you tried to kill John-117!" 343 Guilty Spark didn't respond for a second. "Yes. You are correct." the AI beeped. "But that was a long time ago. There is no need to hold a grudge." Cortana remained where she was. "Yes, there is a need." she said, as she pulled the trigger. A blast of confetti burst out of the barrel of the Assault Rifle, while the sound of a party horn accompanied it. Doc began to laugh. "I get to drive the float! And Cortana is in charge of confetti!" he said, struggling to stop laughing. "Oh, shut up!" Cortana said, as she threw the Rifle back to Caboose, who caught it. "Why does that thing fire confetti, anyway?" It shocked all of them, except for Doc and Caboose, when the Rifle actually spoke. "Anyone who attempts to use this Rifle does not have the proper clearance. So, naturally, when they pull the trigger, I will fire confetti. I have all the control." the AI in the Rifle spoke. "Good job, Freckles." Caboose replied. "Thank you, Captain Caboose." the AI named Freckles said.

Mendez walked foward and removed Spark's AI chip from the terminal. "We're going to place you inside of a Sentinel body recovered from the Ark." Mendez said. "Affirmative." 343 Guilty Spark said, as his data chip glowed blue. They all jogged out of 343 Guilty Spark's holding cell. "Now we just have to get off of of this boat!" Mendez said, as they jogged. "I'm going to radio ahead to the Master Chief!" Cortana said. "Okay, you do that!" Halsey remarked. "Yes, okay! Tell Mister Chief that I said hi!" Caboose chimed in. Cortana ignored him, as she activated her radio headpiece. "Master Chief John-117 come in." she said over the radio. After a few seconds, there was a response. "I read, Cortana." the Chief said. "Have you retaken Blood Gulch?" Cortana asked. "Negative, Cortana, negative!" the Chief said. "We are experiencing a great amount of Flood resistance." There was a sound of an explosion. "Damn! I got to go, Cortana! I'll radio to you soon!" the Chief said, before the radio cut out.

"Mendez, the Master Chief has told me that he and his men are encountering high Flood resistance back at Blood Gulch." Cortana replied. "Damn." Mendez replied. "Okay, here's what we're going to," Mendez began to speak. "We're going to advance to the _Tartarus's _armory, retrieve the Sentinel body, insert Spark into the Sentinel and then we dust off to Blood Gulch, and aid our allies there. Understand?" There were no complaints from Cortana or anyone else. "Alright." Mendez replied. "Then let's go to work."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It took a while to finish, so again, I hope you enjoyed. Did you guys like the cameo from the Red and Blue "Grunts" or "Zealots"? I really enjoyed writing that scene, so I hoped you enjoyed it. I hate to say it, but in the next chapter, someone will die. Also, what do you think of John-117's military career being staged? And him being a Freelancer? I'd like to say this isn't supposed to be canon with books, graphic novels. It is also not canon with anything after Halo 4 or Halo 5: Guardians. Again, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, please leave me a favorite and/or follow. If you want to submit your opinion, than leaving a review or sending me a PM is how you would do that. There will be seven or so more chapters after this one, so the story will soon be over and I will be working on the sequel hopefully soon. You won't be getting any more chapters for at least a week and a half, as I hope to finish the story in said time. You will get sort of a "teaser" chapter hopefully on Christmas Eve, and you will get the final chapters on Christmas day (as a thank you for reading thus far and not all of the chapters will be uploaded at the same time) and hopefully, the sequel will come in early 2017. So, as it has come to that time again, thanks for reading, stay tuned and await more!


	21. Chapter 20: Death of a Veteran

Chapter 20: Death of a Veteran

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Welcome to another chapter! And Merry Christmas Eve! As, I told all of you readers in the last chapter, you will get the rest of the chapters tomorrow, all throughout the day. Also, someone is going to die at the end of this chapter. And I guarentee that you won't see it coming. So, before you get started on reading, as always, please favorite and follow the story, as it really helps me out. Also, please drop me a review or PM me if you want to give me your input. So, without anything else that needs to be said, let's get into it!

_Washington_

_Top Secret Freelancer Offsite Facility_

Washington nailed a Flood Combat Form in the little tentacle things that the Infection Form left behind after a host was infected. Everything was going just great. Tex was being surrounded by Combat Forms and Carolina was currently running from a dozen Carrier Forms. Washington flipped to the left in the snow, gunning down three Infection Forms. He looked to his left as he slapped a new magazine into his Battle Rifle, to see Church just standing in the snow, not doing anything. "Church! What is wrong with you?! Open fire!" he called. But Church wasn't moving. He just stood there, staying completely still, unmoving, not even firing at the advancing Flood. "Church! Open fire!" Washington yelled, twice as loud.

_Epsilon-Church_

_Elsewhere..._

Church knew that he was supposed to be fighting the Flood. But something was simply couldn't move, he couldn't do a thing. All he could do was stand there, trying to figure out what was happening. He was stuck in somekind of limbo. He couldn't move, it's like he was floating in space. All he could do was 'float' and listen to his own overlapping thoughts. _Oh, fuck! That sounds bad! Where's the temple? Boo, motherfucker! I am the best. My name is Leonard Church, and you will fear my laser face! Holy crap! Who is running this army?! There is a fine line between not listening and not caring. I like to think that I walk that line everyday of my life. Yeah... That's right... I'm a gay robot. Go ahead, and hop in Tucker. What the hell? Where the hell am I? Dibs. Hey, Rookie. Did you just call my girlfriend a cow? The Meta is a Freelancer?! Your name is now, Doc. Do whatever you want. I'm going home. Is it possible for a memory encased inside a robot body to piss it's pants? Because I'm pretty sure I just did that._

_ My body fought hard for this war and it deserves to be put to rest! Whoa! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh shit, you scared the crap out of me! It's a planet made entirely out of ice. It's really fucking cold! You know what? I fucking hate you. I'm pretty sure I would know if Tex was a guy. And I'm definitely sure I would know if she was part-shark. _Church began to regain feelings in his cyborg body. He looked around him, as he tried to figure out what was going on. He finally tried to speak, and it worked. "D! What's going on?" Church asked. Since Epsilon was the memories of the Alpha, he remembered the fragments. Such as Delta, Theta and so on and so forth. "Warning! Warning! Epsilon, you are just beginning to enter the Rampancy stage! If we are to survive longer, we need to clear our storage space!" Delta's voice rang in Church's head. "Rampancy? Didn't Cortana go through Rampancy as an AI?" Epsilon asked himself. _Wait. I'm an AI. Oh, fuckberries. That's also Tucker's line. God damn it._

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

John-117 emerged from the tunnels that took him and his team back up to Blood Gulch, and came out behind Red Base. John began to sneak, as his team did the same. John looked up at Red Base, to see two Flood Combat forms just standing up there and just keeping watch. John held up his fist, signaling his team to stay put, as he began to sneak up the ramp to Red Base's roof. One of the Combat Forms turned to the other Combat Form and began to speak. "Blarg." he asked. The other Combat Form looked at him and spoke. "Honk?" he said. "Blargitty blarg blarg honk?" Combat Form One asked. "Blargitty blarg blarg blarg. Blarg blarga blarg. Blarg blargitty blarg blarg? Blarg blarg blarg." Combat Form Number Two said. "Blarg?" Combat Form Number One asked, sounding like it was in a confused tone. Their argument continued for several minutes, until John got fed up with it and stood up. John opened fire on the Combat Form on the left and he fell down, dead. "Blarg?" the Combat Form on the right asked in confusion, as he looked over at John. "Blarg!" He bellowed in agitation, as he leaped towards the Master Chief.

John shot at the Combat Form, killing it in matter of seconds. He signaled for his men to join him. "That was odd, even for the Flood." Grif said, as he and the rest of the squad ran up to the roof. "Yes. But that was the least of our concerns." John-117 said, as he placed his Assault Rifle on his back, walking to where the Combat Forms were standing. "They'll be all over us in less than a minute." Tucker laughed. "Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" Tucker said. John realized that this may be their last day on Earth. Or Blood Gulch, in this case. "Oh shit." Simmons said, as he approached the edge of Red Base's roof. "We about to be to fucked monumentally!" Donut exclaimed, as he walked up with the rest of them. John looked out at Blood Gulch. What he saw actually terrified him. It was the Flood equivalent to a Covenant Fleet. Sure, there were no ships, but there plenty of troops. They hadn't noticed them yet, but they wouldn't be hidden for much longer. "Simmons." he said. "Sniper Rifle, now!" Simmons tossed John a Sniper Rifle, and John caught it. "Alright." John took a deep breath. "Let's see what we're up against." John aimed down the sight to survey the battlefield.

"What have we got, Chief?" Sarge asked. "A lot." John said. "We're looking at Infected UNSC Marines, Infected Elites, Flood Tanks, otherwise known as infected Brutes, Carrier Forms and Infection Forms. At least five hundred each it looks like. Minus the Infection Forms." He turned around and placed the Rifle against the wall. "Men, I'm not going to lie. This very well may be your last day in Blood Gulch. You have fought hard and well. But today, I need each and everyone of you to give it all you got today. If we fail, we lose Blood Gulch, but ultimately, the human race will fall. So, we need to fight to our very last breathe. For all human life. For Earth." John saluted his fellow soldiers and everyone returned the salute, even Sarge. "Men, lock and load." John said. Noble Six slammed a new mag into his DMR. Grif and Simmons put fresh magazines into their Battle Rifles. Donut reloaded his Magnum. Tucker activated his Energy Sword. "Sir, let me just say that this is the worst, craziest idea ever, but you can count me in." Grif said. John allowed himself one last smile. "It is a crazy plan. Unfortunately for us all, I like crazy." he said. John aimed with the Sniper Rifle and fired at a Flood Carrier Form. It fell and exploded, sending every Flood Form in the radius flying. Not even five minutes later, all of the Flood Forms in Blood Gulch were running towards Red Base. The Battle of Blood Gulch had begun.

_Doc_

_UNSC Tartarus_

After guards aboard the _UNSC Tartarus _found out about Mendez and Co. had taken 343 Guilty Spark from his "cell", they weren't to happy. Doc was taking cover behind a crate in one of the ship's cargo bays, just as the ship's security force had found them again and opened fire. "Dufresne!" Mendez called from his cover. "I need you to give us covering fire!" Doc wasn't into fighting. After all, he was a pacifist. "Oh, no. I can see everything just fine from back here, thank you." Doc said. "Dufrense, you are carrying a modified version of the Plasma Pistol!" Mendez exclaimed. "Yes, yes! What's your point?" Doc asked. "My point is that the UNSC got ahold of Covenant Firearms, notably the Plasma Pistol. It was reverse engineered into a medical device! But it still has the power to harm others!" Mendez said. "Um, yes, but Mendez, in case you have forgotten, I'm a pacifist! I'm not killing, let alone harming anyone!" Doc protested. Mendez let out a growl of anger. "Fine!" Mendez said in an angry tone. "Sparky! Get over here, now!"

343 Guilty Spark let out a hum as he hovered over to Mendez in his new Sentinel body. "Yes, Officer! How may I be of service?" he chirped. "You are now in a Sentinel body! So, is it possible for you to utilize the Sentinel Beam that they use on the Flood?" Mendez asked. "Of course I can!" 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "Then, by all means, Sparky! Open fire on the enemy!" Mendez exclaimed. "Activating Sentinel Beam." 343 Guilty Spark said robotically, as he turned to face the enemy. 343 Guilty Spark fired his sentinel beam, incapacitating the guards firing at them.

_Mendez_

As 343 Guilty Spark kept their enemies at bay, Mendez radioed ahead to Lopez. "Lopez, do you read?" Mendez said. A few moments later, the Spanish robot responded. "Si. Como estas?" Lopez responded over the radio. Since Mendez understood a little Spanish, he responded so. "Muy bien, Lopez. I need you to meet us at the hanger, we need extraction on the double!" Mendez exclaimed. "Ok." Lopez said, before the radio cut out. "Okay, men! We have extraction coming in! Lopez will be around to the hanger to retrieve us anytime now! We must get there!" Mendez replied. "Aye, aye, sir!" Doc said, as the rest of the team acknowledged. "Spark, keep us covered as we move through the ship!" 343 Guilty Spark beeped, acknowledging the order.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

"We have to get to Blue Base!" Sarge said, as he Shotgunned multiple Combat Forms. "Why?" Tucker asked, as he slashed and hacked the Flood with his sword. "What's so important about our base?" Sarge just grunted. "There is a nuclear device that Red Team hid in your base, that is designed to wipe out all inorganic life!" Sarge said. "So, you mean to tell me that you predicted the war with the Flood, and created a nuke designed to destroy it?" John asked. "Yes, exactly." Sarge said. "Whatever you say, Sarge." Tucker said, as they continued to push deeper into the canyon. "Well, it sounds like we have found a way to exterminate the Flood and take back Blood Gulch." John said. "Let's escort Sarge to Blue Base, men!" Just as a Flood Combat Form lunged towards John, the Chief hit with the Combat Form with the Assault Rifle, downing the Form. John walked up and put his boot on the Combat Form's chest, and began to shoot at the remains of the Infection Form that were still in it's chest.

John lifted his Assault Rifle and began to fire at the Flood Combat Forms that were surrounding them. John ran out of bullets in his current magazine, and with more Combat Forms approaching, he tossed his Assault Rifle aside and switched to his Magnum. John fired at the incoming Combat Forms. One of them got too close and John grabbed it by the throat and continued to fire, as it slapped him harmlessly. John fired all of his bullets, all except for one, and he put the barrel of the pistol against the bristles of the Infection Form and fired, killing the Combat Form instantly. John dropped the Combat Form's body and reloaded his Magnum. John watched as Sarge was attacked by a Combat Form. Sarge struggled against the Combat Form, before eventually bashing the Form's head with the Shotgun. The Combat Form fell to the ground and Sarge began to stomp the Form's chest with his cybornetic foot. _Holy shit,_ John thought. _They are actually doing it! They are fighting like honest to God Spartans!_ "Don't back down now! We can do this!" John said, as he began to fire again.

_Agent Maine/The Meta_

_Blood Gulch_

The Meta stood up on the cliffs of Blood Gulch, observing the fight and listening to the Reds and Blues, via radio. The Meta couldn't help but feel sorry for the Reds and Blues, knowing damn well that victory was far-fetched. He shook his head in disappointment. He thought that this Master Chief would be smarter than to engage an entire Flood fleet. He loaded his Bruteshot, getting ready for a open window. _Like sheep to the slaughter._ Meta thought to himself. He listened in on the conversation and heard John-117 speaking. "Don't back down now! We can do this!" John spoke via the radio. The Meta let out a growl. _No. You can't._ The Meta lifted his Bruteshot and fired.

_Tucker_

_Blood Gulch_

Tucker watched, just as John finished speaking, he was hit with an explosive device and was sent flying. "Chief!" Tucker called in worry. "We can't win this fight without him!" Noble Six intervened. "No! We can! We just have to believe in ourselves! Keep pushing towards Blue Base! I'll stay with John to ensure he doesn't get infected!" he said. "Why you, fucker? We shouldn't trust you!" he said. "You'll have to trust me! It's impossible for me to die, remember? As long as I have this immunity, I can protect the Master Chief. Go, go, go!" Noble Six ordered. Tucker already noticed that his team were moving. Tucker knew he had to move too. He began to pursue his team, stabbing any Combat Forms that got in his way. He eventually caught up to them, to see that Grif had a Infection Form latched to his helmet. Tucker quickly made the switch to his Magnum and shot the Infection Form, saving his ally. "Ow, motherfucker!" Grif exclaimed, rubbing his helmet. He looked at Tucker. "What'd you do that for?" he asked. "Hey, jackass! Do you want to die with me in a few minutes or fifty years from now?!" Tucker asked.

Grif just stared at Tucker. "That's what I thought, lemon head!" Tucker said, as he and Grif jogged to catch up to the rest of the team. "Hey! I'm not yellow, I'm not gold either! I am fucking orange!" Grif exclaimed. "Oh, quit your bitching! I'm just messing with you!" Tucker said, as he laughed. Grif said nothing. They eventually caught up to Sarge, Donut and Simmons. "How's the Chief?" Donut asked. "Noble Six will look after him until he comes around. _If_ he comes around." Tucker said. "Don't say that, Tucker." Simmons said. "The Master Chief is tough. He'll get back up." The Flood began to advance again and the five of them opened fire. Grif fired a burst of fire from his Battle Rifle. Three Combat Forms dropped. "Hey..." Simmons said. "Do you hear something?" They all averted their attention to their surrounding area. Tucker didn't really understand what Simmons was talking about. Well, then again, he never really understood what Simmons was talking about. "Um, Simmons?" Grif asked. "I don't hear anything." Then, the cavalry arrived. Tucker heard a very faint rumbling sound. That's when he looked up and saw two Warthogs coming from the cliffs. Washington was driving one of them, while Church rode Shotgun. And Carolina drove the other, while Tex manned the machine gun turret.

"The cavalry's arrived boys! Let's lend them a hand!" Sarge barked. They all acknowledged the order and spread out. All except for Grif and Tucker. Grif just stood there and Tucker just opened fire on the incoming Flood with his magnum. As he was doing that, he heard a sound from behind him. He turned around to see Wash's Warthog driving towards him. "Oh, fuckberries!" he said, as he flipped out of the way. "Grif, watch out!" Grif turned around but it was already too late. Grif got hit with Washington's Warthog and he went flying upwards, then forwards due to the impact. Tucker watched as Grif sailed through the air. He was heading towards Carolina's Warthog. And he wasn't going to hit the front of the Hog. Tucker watched seconds before Grif landed on the turret. "Oh, fuck." Tucker said, a second before Grif impacted.

_Grif_

_Blood Gulch_

By now, Grif's balls were most likely numb. But as he impacted, an all-too familiar feeling jolted through his lower body. He slumped over forward a little bit and he rested his head on Tex's helmet. "Why don't you just kill me?" he said. "Get off, fat-ass! I can't see!" Tex grunted as she pushed him off of the Warthog. Grif just laid there, not sure what to do, after he was pushed off. "Why, God! Why!" Grif wailed, as he covered his balls. "Why does this always happen to _me_?!"

_John-117_

_Somewhere_

When John woke up, he had no idea where he was. Or what had happened. "What the hell?" he asked, as he rubbed his helmet. "What happened? I don't remember anything. We were fighting in Blood Gulch and then? Poof. Nothing." He got up and found himself still in Blood Gulch. "How -?" John began to ask himself a question, but he stopped himself. He found himself on the cliffs of Blood Gulch, near the cave tunnels, next to Church and Tucker. Only problem was, the were wearing old generation Armor. John was pretty sure that they were wearing Mark V Armor. "Tucker! Church! What's going on? Why aren't you attacking the Flood?" he asked. Neither of them responded. "Hello?" John asked, beginning to get irritated. Again, neither of them responded. Tucker kept standing there, with his Pistol lowered. Church stood there, looking through the scope of his Sniper Rifle. "What are they doing now?" Tucker asked. "Excuse me?" John asked. Tucker ignored him and Church turned to look at him, without lowering his Rifle. "What?" he asked, with a slight hint of irration in his voice. "I said, 'What are they doing now?'." Tucker said.

"God damn! I'm getting so sick of answering that question!" Church said, his voice full of irration and anger. "You have the Rifle, I can't see shit! So don't bitch at me, because I'm not just going to stand up here and play with my dick." Tucker said. "Okay, okay, look. They're just standing there and talking, okay? That's all they ever do is stand there and talk. That's what they were doing last week! That's what they were doing when you asked me five minutes ago! So five minutes from now, when you ask me what are they doing, my answers gonna be, 'they're still just talking and they're still just standing there!'!" Church exclaimed. Tucker just stood there for a second. Then he looked to his left for a second and then looked back at Church. "What are they talking about?" Tucker asked. Church just stared at Tucker. "You know what? I fucking hate you." Church replied. The scene shifted, so John was behind Blue Base. Tucker, Church and Caboose were there. The Blue Team's tank was also there. "Yeah, I'll let you in on a little secret. I've actually got a girl back home." Church said.

"Oh, yeah? Girlfriend or wife?" Tucker asked. "No, man. She's just my girlfriend. You know, we were going to get married, but I got shipped out, and ah, you know how it works." Church said. "Well, are you going to marry her when you get back?" Tucker asked. Before Church could answer, Caboose spoke. "I'm not going to get married. My dad always said, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?'." Caboose said. "Hey, Rookie!" Church said, as he approached Caboose. "Did you just call my girlfriend a cow?" Before Caboose could say anything, Tucker spoke. "No, I think he called her a slut!" he said. "I'll tell you what Noob. I could sit out here and listen to you insult my girlfriend all day long. But as it turns out, I have a lot more important job for you to do." Church replied. "Great." Caboose said. "See, we got this general." Church said. "Right, the general guy." Tucker said, with an uncertain tone. "Who like's to come by and make random inspections of bases. And what I'm going to have you do, is go inside the base and stand right next to the flag at attention, just incase he decides to come by." Church said. _The UNSC soooo does not do that!_ "When is he coming by?" Caboose asked. "We never know. It could be today, it could be a week from now." Tucker said. "You want me to stand at attention for a week?" Caboose asked.

"You know, you don't sound very grateful. This is the most important job at the whole base. You're gonna be right there with the flag." Church replied. "What's so important about the flag?" Caboose asked. "Oh, come on! Didn't they teach you guys anything in training?" Church asked. "They didn't tell us anything about a flag. Why's it so important?" Caboose asked. "Because it's the flag, man! It's the- it's the, it's the flag! Tucker, you tell him why the flag is so important." Tucker looked at Caboose. "Well, it's complicated. Uh, it's blue, we're blue." he said. "It's just important, okay? Trust us. So when the general comes by, the first thing he's gonna want to do is inspect the flag." Church replied. "Right." Tucker said. "So go in there, you know, far away from us, and wait for him." Church said. Caboose turned around and ran towards the base. He got halfway there, then turned around to face Church and Tucker. "How will I know when I see him?" he asked. "There's only three of us out here, Rookie. He's gonna be the guy that doesn't look like one of us." Tucker said. "Now get in there and don't come out!" Church said.

Church turned to look at Tucker. "Man, that guy is dumber than you are!" he exclaimed. "You mean he's dumber than _you_ are!" Tucker said. "Wow, Tucker. That was a great comeback." Church said. A few seconds passed and Caboose came back outside and stopped a few feet from Tucker and Church. "Hey, Mr. Church!" he said. "Oh my God, what? I swear Tucker, I'm gonna kill him!" Church said. "Uh, sorry about calling your girl a slut." Caboose said. "Rookie! Shut up! Just shut up, you're driving me crazy! Get in there!" Church shouted. Tucker laughed a little bit. As Church began to speak, Sarge ran up behind Church. "Tucker, are you laughing at me?" Church asked. "Excuse me, sirs, may I ask you a question?" Sarge asked. The only problem was, it sounded like Donut. _Wait. If that's Donut, then why is he wearing Red Armor?_ "Dear God in heaven Rookie." Church said. "If I turn around and you are not inside, I-I can't be held responsible for what I'm going to do to you!" Donut just stood there for a second. "What did I do?" He asked. "One!" Church began to count. "Ah, give me a break!" Donut said. "Two!" Church continued to count. "Fine!" Donut exclaimed, as he headed into Blue Base.

A few minutes passed and Church spoke. "Well, enough gabbing out of us. Let's take this bad boy out for a spin. Go ahead and hop in Tucker." he said. "Me? I can't drive that thing." Tucker said. "You're telling me you're not armor certified?" Church said. "I don't even know how to use the fucking Sniper Rifle! Don't you know how to drive that?" Tucker asked. "No!" Church exclaimed, his voice full of surprise. "Holy crap! Who is running the army?!" Caboose ran back outside. "Hey! Just wanted to let you know, the general stopped by and picked up the flag!" he called. "Yeah, okay. Whatever moron!" Church said, as Caboose ran back into the base. "Why would they give us a tank if nobody here knows how to drive the damn thing?" Church asked. "Wait a second. What did he just say?"

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

"Chief, Chief! Wake up!" John heard a voice, that sounded far away. John opened his eyes and let out a hiss of pain. "God damn, what happened?" he said, as he slowly began to get up on his knee. "You were knocked out by a grenade! Are you okay? I can give you medical attention!" Doc said. "I'm fine." he said, as he grabbed a nearby Assault Rifle. "What's our status?" Sarge cleared his throat. "We activated the nuke that wiped out the Flood." Sarge said. Then, an all too familiar voice entered the conversation. "Affirmitive. The Flood has been eradicated. For the time being." John knew that voice, all though he had reason to believe that the AI construct was "dead". John got up and ran over to the Sentinel that 343 Guilty Spark was residing in. "What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, as he pressed the barrel of his Rifle into the AI's underside. "Chief! No!" Cortana said, as she ran over to him and placed her hand on his Rifle, forcing him to lower it.

"Cortana! This thing killed Avery Johnson and tried to kill me! Why are you supporting it?" John asked. "Because this 'thing', could be the only thing that can help us destroy the Flood!" Cortana said. "Attention!" 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "To effectively destroy the Flood, we must fire the Halo Array!" John looked back at the AI. "We are _not_ going to fire the Halo Array! That's enough! I'm done talking to you, you fucking light bulb!" John rarely cursed, but he was not happy. "Chief, what's the Halo Array?" Grif asked. "What the hell is that thing?" Tucker asked. "Will everyone stop talking to me at once and just let me think?" John said. Just then, as if he needed anything else to worry about, explosive rounds start to go off around them. "Son of a bitch!" Simmons and Grif said at the same time. "Madre de dios!" Lopez exclaimed. "God damn it!" John said, as he ran to cover behind a rock. "What the hell is that?" It took a few seconds for anyone to answer. "It's the Meta!" Carolina said, as she fired her Battle Rifle at it, before taking cover.

"I got this." Washington said, in solemn tone. Washington put his Rifle on his back and pulled out his Magnum. "Cover me." he said, as he reloaded. "Are you sure about this?" John asked Washington. "I'm sure." Washington said in a firm tone, as he jogged off to meet the Meta. "Trust me John. He can do this." Noble Six said, as he took shelter next to John. "How can _you_ be sure?" John asked, turning to face Noble Six. "Because, I know. Trust me. I was once part of the Flood and so is Maine." he said. "You're still infected. Which means I can still kill you at any moment." John said, as he pointed his Assault Rifle at Six. "No. You can't." Noble Six replied in a cool tone. "He can kill Maine, because I know he can. He doesn't have the immunity to death anymore like I do. The nuke that the Reds activated took it away some how." John thought about that for a moment. "If he doesn't have the immunity to death anymore, than why do you?" he finally asked. "You know, I don't know why that is. I think it's because it's fate. That the Gravemind wants to see that I get punished himself." Noble Six said.

"Whatever." John said. He got up on his knee and aimed at the Meta. The Meta had seemed to lose all interest in the Blood Gulch Crew. The Meta was now focused on Washington. They weren't that far away, so John could hear everything that was going on. "Meta. Maine. It's me." Wash said. "It's Washington." The Meta just stood there and John could barely hear the Meta's growls. "I know that you are infected. I know you can understand me. If you still use that knifle thing, then you should remember me and Carolina." Washington continued. Then, for some odd reason, the Meta took off his E.V.A. Helmet and looked at Washington. "It's still you." Washington observed. "Even under that infection, I know it's you, Maine." The Meta seemed to understand. He wasn't showing any hostility. "Maine, I'm sorry this happened to you." Washington said. The Meta let out a growl full of hostility and lifted his Bruteshot to fire at Washington. But before the Meta could attack, Washington pulled something that shocked them all. Washington leveled his Magnum towards the Meta's face and shot him in the forehead. The Meta went down instantly, not moving again after that. "I'm sorry." Washington said, in a tearful voice.

_Later..._

"Okay," Mendez replied, standing up on the Blue Base's roof with John-117, Cortana and Doctor Halsey. "We were successful in taking back Blood Gulch." Grif spoke up. "Wow. What an accomplishment." he said. "No one asked you, Grif." Simmons replied, turning to look at him. "Both of you be quiet, please." Mendez replied. "Okay, I'm going to go ahead and give out orders now. Doctor Halsey and Medical Officer Dufresne, you are on medical duty. Tucker, Carolina and Washington, I want the three of you to patrol the caves, in search of any stragglers. Church-" Mendez looked around and eventually stopped talking. "Where's Church?" he asked. John looked among the group and saw that Church was not among them. "He'll turn up, CPO. Keep going." John said. "Roger that. Grif and Simmons, I want you to patrol the cliffs. Keep an eye out for any Flood invaders." Grif and Simmons looked at each other, before nodding. "Master Chief, Cortana, I would like to have a talk with you. It's about a little something called Project Resurgence." Mendez replied. Cortana and John exhanged glances, before John saluted, to which Mendez returned the salute.

"Alright people, let's get m-" It all happened so fast. There was the sound of a firearm going off and blood sprayed all over John's faceplate. Mendez fell to the floor of the roof and John just stood there, staring off into space in complete shock. He could hear Cortana screaming next to him, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. John looked down at Mendez's body, blood gushing out from the golf ball sized hole in the side of his head. He caught sight of the M6D Pistol strapped to his belt. John grabbed it, unclipped it from his belt and turned around to face the crowd. They all freaked out and started to move around in fear. John finally spotted his target and jumped off the Blue Base roof, running towards Noble Six. John started shooting Six in the head with the Pistol. Six's shields flared and John didn't stop when he reached Six. He grabbed Six by the throat and pushed him to the ground, pushing the barrel of the Pistol into Six's visor and began to fire the remaining ammo in the Pistol's magazine. Once he had run out of ammo, John alternated hitting Six with the butt of the Pistol and punching him.

John eventually tossed the empty M6D Pistol aside and looked around him. He saw Grif holding the Bruteshot. John bolted towards Grif and grabbed the Bruteshot. "Hand it over!" John hissed, as he pulled on the weapon. "Fuck off! It's my Grifshot!" he Grif exclaimed, pulling on his side of the weapon. John kicked Grif in the stomach, forcing Grif to let go of the Bruteshot. John ran back to Six with the Bruteshot in his hands. Six was just beginning to get back up, when John sliced into the "stomach" of his Armor, causing Six to fall back over. But John wasn't done yet. He walked over to Six, above his head and lifted the Bruteshot, with the blade facing Six's visor. "No, wait! Pl-" John slammed the blade into Six's helmet, effectively silencing him. He backed up, huffing and puffing. "John." Cortana said, walking beside him. John couldn't even think. He just closed his eyes and tried to push the pain away.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

_One Day Later..._

John stood in front of Mendez's grave as he listened to the old style music played on bag-pipes that played during the service. This music, Donut had told him, was played hundreds of years ago, when Earth was the only planet humanity lived on. This music was used to honor the deceased soldier. There had still been no sign of Church since he had mysteriously disappeared yesterday. Everyone had filed out of the service they had created for Mendez, but John refused to leave. Cortana stood next to him. "John..." she began to speak, but her voice trailed off. "It's okay." John replied, as he placed his gloved hand on Cortana's forearm. "You go. I'll stay a little longer." Cortana nodded without saying a word and walked off to where everyone was gathering. They had buried Mendez behind Blue Base and to make a long story short, Noble Six survived his injuries, due to the fact that he had that immunity thing. John saluted his fallen comrade, tears threatening to come, but he didn't let them.

John stopped saluting after a few seconds and reached into one of the storage compartments in his Armor. He fished something out of the storage compartment and placed it on the makeshift gravestone: the silver coin that Mendez had given him several years ago. "Good-bye, Sir." John said. He heard something behind him and turned around, to see Tucker standing behind. "Yes, Private Tucker?" John asked. "Sir, what are our orders? What do we do?" he asked. John took off his helmet, so Tucker could see the serious look on his face. John gritted his teeth before he spoke. "We declare war. We're declaring all-out war on the Flood." he said.

A/N: So, that's it. Mendez is dead. And in case you all didn't notice, John is pissed off. In the next chapter, the crew starts making preperations for the impending war on the Flood. Also, the unforgettable 343 Guilty Spark has returned, and is being housed in a Sentinel body. Also in the next chapter, they will learn of where the Gravemind is hiding out and commanding it's forces. I hope you did enjoy this chapter, and as always, please follow and favorite the story. If you want to give input, just give me a review or PM me. I'm going to go though, so have a Merry Christmas Eve and bye.


	22. Chapter 21: All-Out War: Part One

Chapter 21: All-Out War: Part One

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello and welcome to another chapter. Also, Merry Christmas! In this chapter, the group is going to begin their war on the Flood. "All-Out War" is going to be a three-part story, leading up to the end of the story. The chapters will also most likely be short. I hope that you all have enjoyed the story thus far. If you do enjoy this chapter, please do not forget to favorite and follow the story. Also, if you have opinions to submit, then please, I implore you to post a review or PM me. I would be most interested in your opinions of this story. So, without further ado, let's get into this chapter!

_John-117_

John found himself inside of a hard-light cube. _Wait a second. I've been here before..._ He got up and began to look around the area he was in. _No. No, no, no. Dear God, please don't let this be what I think it is!_ He had no idea what to do, so, he said the person's name that first came to his mind. "Cortana! Where are you?" he asked. "Where are we?" He didn't recieve an answer, so he just looked around him. No matter where he looked, the same hard-light walls looked back at him. He started to hear the sound of a soft music behind him. Played by what sounded like an old harp or lyre. He turned around and his worst fear was confirmed. He saw Cortana walking over to him, slowly. But something was wrong. She was in her AI form, not her human form. "No. This cannot be happening!" John said. Cortana smiled as she came to a stop. "Oh, so I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" she asked. "Please." John said. "Don't tell me this is all happening again!"

"It worked. You did it. Just like you always do." Cortana was speaking sort of strangely. She was disregarding John's words as if he were saying something else. John continued to stare at Cortana. "Cortana please, just let this be a dream!" he exclaimed. A sad look came onto her face. "I'm not coming with you this time." Cortana said. John grabbed Cortana's shoulders and began to shake her. "Cortana, stop it! This is just a bad dream!" he continued to insist. "Most of me is down there." she continued. "I only held enough back to get you off the ship." John shook his head, on the verge of crying. "Cortana, please. Don't do this!" he pleaded. Cortana looked down at her feet. "It's already done." she said. "Cortana! Stop this! It's just a bad dream! Please, let me wake up!" he exclaimed, beginning to cry. "John..." she said, as she placed her hand on his armored chest. "God damn it, Cortana! Let me wake up!" he shouted. "I've waited for so long to do that." Cortana sighed in a sad tone. John grabbed Cortana's hands. "Please..." he said. "Make it stop."

"We were supposed to take care of each other," Cortana continued. "And we did." John was crying like a baby now. "Please, don't go!" he screamed. John looked back up to see Cortana walking backwards. "Welcome home, John." she said, as she disappeared. "No! No! No, no, no!" John screamed, as he continued to cry.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

"John, wake up! Wake up!" John heard Cortana's voice. He lurched upright, coming out of the nightmare. John realized that he and Cortana were still on top of Blue Base, and he had just had a nightmare. But still, he couldn't the crying. He was still crying. Even after learning that it was all just a nightmare, he still couldn't help but cry. The whole "Cortana's death" incident scarred him. And he really, really, really didn't want to relive it. But he just had relived it anyway. "It's okay. I'm here." Cortana said, as John rested his head on her shoulder, still crying. "I'm here."

_Tucker_

_Blood Gulch_

Tucker woke up to the sound of the Master Chief crying on the roof. "What is that?" Carolina asked, as she woke up next to him. "The Chief probably just had a bad dream honey. Go back to sleep." Carolina let out a hiss of anger. "Call me honey again, and I'll kill you." Carolina growled. Tucker just laughed. "Whatever you say, sweetheart." he said. "Call me sweetheart again, and I'll castrate you." she said. Tucker's heart skipped a beat. "Okay, nevermind." he said, as he rolled over on his side, facing away from Carolina. "That's what I thought." she said.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

John stood at the top of Blue Base, keeping watch over the canyon. His partner for the day, Simmons, stood next to him. "Hey, Chief?" Simmons asked. John only grunted in response, not really wanting to talk. "So word has spread that you were crying last night." Simmons said. "What was that all about?" John just stood there, unmoving in his Mjolnir Armor, holding his Battle Rifle, not saying anything. "Chief, d-" Simmons began to speak again, but John cut him off. "I don't want to talk about it." John said, in a gruff tone. "But, I'm sure that there are-" Simmons began to speak yet again, but John cut him off again, but a different way this time. John leveled is Battle Rifle, pointing it at Simmons, threatening him. "I don't." John said, as he kept his Rifle leveled to Simmon's helmet. Before John could do anything, however, Cortana jogged up the ramp to the roof. "Hey, Simmons! Why don't you go over to the Mess Hall and secure yourself a sandwich?" she asked.

Simmons didn't argue. "Aye, aye ma'am!" he said, as he jumped off the roof to the ground below. After he was far away enough for the two to talk alone, Cortana turned to look at him. "I've never seen you act so agressive before. What's wrong, John?" she asked. John just stood there, trying to figure out what to say. "It's the dream." he finally decided. "Yes, I know. You've told me about the dream." she said, crossing her arms. "It was terrible." he said. "I know." she said in return. "I didn't want to have to relive all the pain of losing you again." he said. "John, you didn't lose me again." Cortana said. "It sure felt like it." he said. "You didn't lose me. And I promise you won't ever lose me... again." she said. "I hope not." he said. A faint smile played on her lips for a few seconds. "What is it?" he asked. "John, take off your helmet." Cortana said, in sort of sly tone. John didn't question Cortana. He obeyed and removed his helmet. He sat the helmet down on the floor of the roof and looked back at Cortana. Cortana stared into his eyes and he stared into hers. She slowly walked up to him and put her hands up on his neck. In return, John wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up so he didn't have to bend down. As their lips met for the second time since Valhalla, all kinds of thoughts coursed through his head.

_She promised me that I'd never lose her again, and yet, I still have an odd feeling that she'll have to go away again. But, if she promised me, than that's good enough._ It felt good, Cortana kissing him again. Even though the last time they had kissed, he was still in his armor, he had missed the feeling of her lips on his. _Oh my God. I just realized something. This is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Even if she is a younger flash clone of Doctor Halsey. _He enjoyed holding her. And he was starting to believe that he was in love with Cortana. And he was okay with that. Cortana was the only woman that he had developed romantic feelings for. Kelly and Linda from Blue Team he had also grown crushes on, but it would be weird, as he viewed them as brothers and sisters. So, he had previously banished those thoughts. But any thoughts of love for Cortana, they weren't going anywhere. They had stayed with their lips locked for at least half a minute, before pulling apart. John kept his hands on Cortana's waist and she kept her hands on his neck. "I love you." Cortana said. "I know." John said, a small smile coming on his face.

Cortana frowned. "You did it again." she said. "I did what again?" John asked her. "I told you that I loved you, and you said, 'I know'." Cortana said. "Why?" _It was a good question. Why couldn't John say the three words back? Cortana adored him and John returned her feelings all the way. _"I uh, don't know. I feel the same way for you, but I just can't bring myself to return those three words to you." John said. "Why not?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?" John shook his head. "No, it's not that. I just can't say. I have no idea why I can't say it." he said. "That's odd." Cortana said, as she pulled away from him. "I just rememered something that Mendez mentioned before he died. Something called Project Resurgence." John said. "Let's go ask Doctor Halsey about it." Before Cortana could respond, John jumped off of the Blue Base's roof and ran towards the tent that Halsey and Doc had made into the infirmary. John didn't know where the Reds and Blues had gotten the tent. But then again, he didn't understand much of anything that the Reds and Blues did or found. In the end, John had just learned to go with it.

He eventually reached the tent and ran in, without saying he was doing so. "Doctor Halsey! I need to talk to you!" he said, as he barged in. "Um, okay." Doctor Halsey said, as she looked up in worry. "Dufresne?" Doc looked up and nodded from where he was standing. "I understand ma'am." he said, before walking to the folds of the entrance. "If you need me, I'll be waiting at the Blue Base." As he walked out, he said, "Oh, hey Cortana." Cortana walked in and stood at John's side. "So, may I ask what this is about?" Cortana asked, as she looked at John. "No." he said, as he looked back at Doctor Halsey. Before he could speak, Doctor Halsey spoke. "I'm with Cortana on this one. What is this about, John?" she asked. "Before Mendez died, he spoke of something called 'Project Resurgence'." John began to speak. "May I ask what it is?" Doctor Halsey rose from her seat, with an angry look on her face. "Absolutely not. John-117, return to your post at once. I don't want to hear about this again." she said, her voice full of irration.

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain this to me, Doc! I'm not a kid anymore! I'm forty-seven god damn years old!" he exclaimed. "You are not forty-seven, John. You're not even out of your twenties yet." she said. "What is that supposed to mean?" John asked, his voice full of confusion. "Yeah! What does that mean?" Cortana asked. "You stay out of this!" Doctor Halsey exclaimed. "Well, now I guess I have to speak about it. Clever words, John." John didn't budge. "Does that mean I'm going to get an explanation?" he asked, beginning to get angry. "Yes, John. It does. You are going to get an explanation. You will probably not like it at all and it's likely that'll refuse to believe it." Doctor Halsey said. "Start talking, you bitch." Cortana said, chiming in on John's side of the conversation. "Cortana!" John said, looking at her in surprise. "You watch your mouth!" Doctor Halsey exclaimed. "As your legal guardian, I can hit you!" Cortana laughed. "No, now that I know who I am, I don't need a guardian. And if I did need one, I'd ask John to be that person." she said. "Cortana, now is not the time to display affection." he said, in slight frusteration.

"Affection? Are you two-" Doctor Halsey began to speak, but Cortana interrupted. "Together? As in dating? As a matter a fact, we are." she said. "Cortana!" John exclaimed at her. "Oh my God! That is so wrong! The two of you were supposed to be partners! Not lovers!" Doctor Halsey shouted. "What? I thought you knew!" Cortana exclaimed. "No, I didn't know! How long has this been going on?" she asked. "Oh, about half a week." Cortana said. "What did you mean by partners?" John asked. "You two were paired together. There was supposed to be no romantic feelings whatsoever." Doctor Halsey said. "Well, I love John and John loves me!" Cortana exclaimed. "Cortana, please..." John said. "Please what, John?" Cortana asked. "Just shut up. You are embarrassing me." he said. "Yes, stop it." Doctor Halsey agreed. "Stop with this talk of love. Cortana, I forbid you and John from being together." Cortana looked at Doctor Halsey in shock. "But, Halsey! I love him!" Cortana exclaimed. John was beginning to get pissed off.

"It doesn't matter! I won't let the two of you be together!" Doctor Halsey said. "Project Resurgence! What the fuck is it?!" John screamed. Doctor Halsey and Cortana both looked at him in fear. John lifted his Rifle and pointed it at Doctor Halsey. "Talk now, god damn it! I swear to God, I'll fire if you don't talk!" Cortana put her hand on John's Rifle. "John! She'll talk. Just give her time." she said. John sighed, as he lowered his Rifle. "Talk." John said, in a low voice. Doctor Halsey let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose I knew this day was coming." she said. "John, you may want to sit down for this." John didn't budge. "I'll stand." he said. "Okay then." Doctor Halsey said, as she sat back down. "You see, the Spartan-II project was just a cover story for a more, uh, sensitive issue." John stared at Doctor Halsey. "Go on." he said, in a gruff tone. "Sure, we were making soldiers. Super soldiers at that. But in early 2530, we were given an offer that we couldn't refuse." Doctor Halsey said. Cortana and John exchanged glances. "And what offer was that?" Cortana asked.

Doctor Halsey looked at them. "The chance to work with your father, John-117." she said. "My father? That's bullshit." John said. "No, not father. DNA contributor is a better word for it." Doctor Halsey said. "Well, who is he, then?" John asked. "The late Doctor Leonard Church." Doctor Halsey said. John looked at Cortana. Cortana shrugged at him. John looked back at Doctor Halsey. "Am I paying for this service? Because if I am, I want a refund. And if I'm not, I want a refund anyway." John said. "I'm afraid it's true John." Doctor Halsey said. "That's bullshit. I don't believe you." John replied, angrier than ever. "I swear to you John, it's the truth. I haven't even told you what we worked with Doctor Church for." she said. "I don't care. This conversation is over." John said, as he turned to leave. "Oh no you don't!" Cortana said, grabbing his shoulders. "You initiated this and you are going to stay to listen to what Halsey has to say." John let out a groan, but turned back around nonetheless.

"Alright, I'll listen. Talk." John said. "Church wasn't the only one to contribute to your DNA structure. There were four others." Doctor Halsey said. "Who were the other four?" John asked. "Well, first and foremost, Leonard Church's genes were donated so we could hack into his DNA structure for his expertise in AI. That's partly why you and Cortana worked so well together. Second, there was Preston Cole, for his intelligence and the Cole Protocol. Captain Jacob Keyes for his perservance. Me, for more intelligence. And CPO Mendez himself for his military experience." Doctor Halsey said. "I'm not buying this." John said. "Believe it John. Everything that I'm telling you is truthful." Doctor Halsey said. "What else do you need to tell me?" he asked. "When we worked with Church, you were made a Freelancer. Freelancer Agent Eridanus, to be precise. You were the first, before the project really took off." she said. "So, those Agents out there, Tex, Carolina and Washington. I'm one of them?" he asked. "Well, that's one way to put it, I suppose." Doctor Halsey said.

"What else?" John asked. "You said that I'm not even out of my twenties yet." Doctor Halsey nodded. "Neither you or Cortana are out of your twenties yet." she said. Cortana and John eyed each other for a second. John looked back at Doctor Halsey. "But, I look like I'm in my late forties!" John replied, totally confused. "Well, that may be. But, John we experimented on you quite a bit." she continued. "We gave you a dose of the aging serum before it was updated for Mendez to use. And you were in cryo-sleep more than you would think." she said. "How long?" he asked. "I would say years at a time. And it had to be that way. I made a younger version flash clone of myself, so she would be ready when Cortana's AI portion matured and was ready to be human. However, war with the Covenant set us back a lot." she said. "But it was all real. Wasn't it?" John asked. "The Reach and Halo crisis's were real. But anything before that? No, none of it was real." she said.

"But how?" John asked. "You spent your teen years after augmentations with Project Freelancer. Any memories of fighting the Insurrection with your team, those aren't real. We planned on augmenting Cortana the same way we did you when she was ready to be transfered. But with the war of the Covenant War breaking out, our progress was hampered." she continued. "That's why she was supposed to be the perfect partner for you in combat scenarios. You two would have known each other better than you would have let on." John thought to himself. "There's no way this is all truth." he said. "If I was given a dose of the aging serum and put in cryo for years on end. How old am I then? How old is Cortana then?" he asked. "I would say that you two are at least twenty-six or twenty-eight." she said. "And about the memories? When the Human-Covenant War slowed things down, we needed a way out. So, we wiped your memory of the Freelancer events and replaced them with false memories of fighting the Insurrection. That is how you are so young. You were kept in cryo for most of your life."

John just stood, staring at Doctor Halsey, creating an awkward silence. "You, uh, and Cortana are so young, that you two could get married and have children, if protocol allowed it." Doctor Halsey said, trying to break the layer of awkwardness. "I don't care what protocol says!" Cortana shouted. "_I'm_ in love with John. _He _loves me as well. I want him to marry me and I want to be able to start a family one day!" But John wasn't listening. He was busy trying to process this. Also, he was trying his best to refuse to believe it. "I don't believe you." John said at last. "You're in denial." Halsey and Cortana said at the same time. "I don't want to hear anymore of this!" John said, as he turned around and stormed out of the infirmary. "Freelancer Eridanus, my ass." he grumbled, as he walked towards Red Base. He needed to talk 343 Guilty Spark. He was the only one in the canyon who had extensive knowledge on the Flood and Graveminds. And John was in the market for information.

A/N: So, I'd like to wish you all another Merry Christmas! We have four or five chapters left to go, and I ain't stopping until they're all posted today! I'd like to thank you all for reading and as always, please follow and favorite this story. And also send me a review or PM me if you want to submit input! Anyway, the next chapter will come out in a few hours, so, Merry Christmas and until next time!


	23. Chapter 22: All-Out War: Part Two

Chapter 22: All-Out War: Part Two

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello and welcome to part two of All-Out War! Also, another Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoyed the first part and I also hope that there was no confusion on the fact that Master Chief was the original Freelancer _and_ that his DNA was reconstructed and he had DNA donors to make him the best on the battlefield. Well, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please follow and favorite the story. And if you want to give me input, than please just submit a review or PM me. So, without further ado, I will now let you read this chapter!

_Grif_

_Blood Gulch_

Grif and Simmons were standing on the top of Red Base, keeping watch over the canyon. "Hey." Simmons said. Grif turned to look at him. "Yeah?" he asked. "Do you ever wonder w-" Grif knew what was coming. "Do I ever wonder why we're here? Yeah... you haven't asked that in a _long_ time." he said. "No, no, no. I was going to ask you, do you ever wonder what happened to your sister?" Simmons asked. Grif thought about it for a moment. "You know, she's my only sister. And when we got back to Blood Gulch from Chorus, the one thing in my head was getting over that I had to live in this hell hole again. And a week or so later, Master Chief shows up. So, she was the last thing that i was thinking about." Grif said. "But seriously dude, what happened to her?" Simmons asked. "I don't know man. It was assumed that Lopez had strangled her to death. But when we returned to find her no where and no body, that kind of freaked me out." Before Simmons could respond, they heard something. "Hey, Sparky!" the Master Chief's voice rang out. Grif looked down to the floor of the canyon, to see John-117 walking towards Red Base. "Where the fuck are you?"

Grif watched the Chief as much as he could, before he ran into Red Base. A long five minutes of silence up on the roof passed before anyone spoke again. "What do you think that was all about?" Simmons asked. "I don't know, man." Grif said. "But, it sounded like the Chief is pissed." Simmons sighed. "It's not like that's anything new." he said. Grif just nodded. "This is kind of getting boring." Simmons replied. "Yeah..." Grif said. A half minute passed before Simmons spoke again. "Wanna go slack off?" Simmons asked. "Man, you had me at the mention of slacking off." Grif said. "Yeah, I knew it wouldn't take much to get you off of watch duty." Simmons replied, as the ran down the ramp off of the roof.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

"Hey, Sparky!" John called, as he jogged towards Red Base. "Where the fuck are you?" He walked into Red Base, to see 343 Guilty Spark hovering in the corner. "Hey, Sparky!" John said. 343 Guilty Spark rotated to face John. "Ah, hello Sim Trooper!" Spark greeted. "I'm not a fucking Simulation Trooper, you fucking light bulb!" John said. "Okay, calm down, soldier. There is no need for cursing. Or hostility." 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "Next time, don't call me something I'm not. And I won't curse at you." John said. "What do you want today, trooper?" the AI beeped. "I came to you for information." John said. "Of course! What information may I enlighten you with?" 343 Guilty Spark asked. "You were programmed with knowledge on the Flood. Is that correct?" John asked. "That is most correct." 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "Now, you do have access on the files of Infection Forms, Combat Forms and so one. Don't you?" John asked another question. "That is correct as well." 343 Guilty Spark answered. "Okay, very good. Can you tell me about Graveminds?" John asked.

"Of course. What information would you need access to on said category?" the AI asked. "Can you tell me how to kill one?" John asked. 343 Guilty Spark just floated there for a second. "Can you tell me how to-" John began to ask the question again, in an irratated tone, but Spark beat him to it. "The most sufficient way to destroy a Gravemind is to fire the Halo A-" 343 Guilty Spark began to speak, but John interupted, very sick of hearing about the Array so much. John threw a Fragmentation Grenade out the back door of the base and shot at the AI, but around it. "We are not going to fucking fire the Array! Is that clear?!" John screamed. 343 Guilty Spark just hovered in silence for a good ten seconds. "Is that clear?!" John screamed at the AI, threatening to fire _at_ it this time. "Acknowledged. That is clear, but destroying a Gravemind will be most, ah, difficult." 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "I don't care!" John exclaimed. "What can you tell me?" 343 beeped before he spoke. "The anatomy of a Gravemind is a very difficult, complex thing to understand. I hope you can comprehend that." the AI spoke.

"I understand." John replied. "Now what can you tell me?" 343 Guilty Spark hovered there, most likely trying to decide what to say. "Sparky?" John asked. "What. Can. You. Tell. Me?" Spark finally answered. "Before we were forced to fire the Array over two millenia ago, the Forerunners were working on numerous other ways to combat the Flood. Cures, ways to fight physically. One of these created, was to combat a Gravemind." 343 Guilty Spark said. "And there is a catch. Isn't there?" John asked. "Indeed." Spark said. "The Forerunners created a highly effective energy weapon. They thought if they could not directly destroy the Flood, then they would destroy their Hivemind." John liked the idea. "So, this energy weapon, it destroys Graveminds?" John asked. "In theory." 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "What does that mean?" John asked. "The Halo Array fired before the weapon got a chance at field testing. Any remnants of the weapon or it's blueprint, likely do not exist anymore." the AI said.

John let out a sigh of anger. "Well, that's just great." he said. Then, John remembered something. _Tucker has an Energy Sword..._ "Wait, Spark! Have you ever seen a Covenant Energy Sword?" John asked. "Affirmative." 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "Would an Energy Sword be enough to kill a Gravemind?" John asked. "I predict, that if you set the weapon to it's most powerful setting, then it would be very likely that it would mortally wound the Gravemind." the AI said. "But it would kill it?" John asked. "Unlikely." 343 Guilty Spark remarked. "It takes a great deal of damage to destroy such a creature of gigantic proportions." John was disappointed. Even one of the greatest energy weapons that they had would be enough to kill it. "But, could it be killed easily after being mortally wounded?" John asked. "According to my calculations, after one is mortally wounded, a few well placed rockets ought to put it out of commision." 343 Guilty Spark beeped.

"Well, that's it then." John said. "What is?" the AI said, sounding curious. "We are at war with the Flood and it's Gravemind." John replied. 343 Guilty Spark said nothing. "What?" John asked. "Why didn't you say anything before?" the AI asked. "I'm sorry?" John asked. "You said that you are at war with the Flood, correct?" the AI asked. "Yes, I d-" John was about to speak, when 343 Guilty Spark spoke. "This is no laughing matter, Reclaimer! If I cannot fire the Array, then we must hit the Flood at the source! Like bombing the ant colony when a house has an ant infestation." the AI spoke. "That is an interesting analogy. How did you know humans got ant infestions when we lived back on Earth?" John asked. "Curious. But irrelevant. We need to prep our defenses and find out where they are hiding." John pondered it. "That will be a problem." John said. Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud roar or shriek type thing that came from outside. "What the fuck was that?" John asked. 343 Guilty Spark said nothing. "Come on, let's go see what that was." John said, as he ran towards the door. "Affirmative." the AI beeped, as it followed him outside.

When he walked outside, John got the sudden feeling that shit had just hit the fan. He saw something in the sky that looked like it was orbiting in the planet's atmosphere. "What the hell? No, no, no! How is that possible! We blew it up!" John said. "I don't have time for this, I'm being distracted by-" John was speaking when he looked up and then spoke again. "Oh crap, flying Pelican!" he said, as he flipped out of the way. The ship crashed right outside of Red Base. John ran over to the middle of the Canyon, where everyone seemed to be waiting for him. "Chief! What do we do?" Donut asked. "Me? Why are you asking me?" John asked. "Well, when Mendez died, everyone kind of assumed that you were taking charge!" Tucker said. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" John said. "That's bullshit!" All of a sudden, something exploded behind him, back at Red Base. "Son of a bitch!" Simmons said. "Son of a bitch!" Grif said. "Madre de dios!" Lopez said. "Rrrrr." John growled. "That is it! I can't stand that Spanish robot any longer! Lopez, hold still!" John ran over to Lopez and went behind him. "Que? No! Hee-ga-grrr-grrrk!" Lopez's voice crackled, before going out completely. "What in Sam Hill did you do to my robot?!" Sarge asked, pointing his Shotgun at John. "I'm not doing a thing!" John said, ignoring Sarge's threat. "Lopez, just please hold still!" John opened up the electrical panel on Lopez's back and began to press all kinds of buttons and flip a few switches, before effectively flipping the switch he was looking for.

He closed up the panel and stood back up, getting in front of Lopez. "Lopez, speak!" John exclaimed. "Chief, we have Flood inbound!" Tucker shouted. "Hold on! Lopez, speak _now_!" John commanded. Lopez did just that. "What did you do to me? Wait, did I just speak English? How am I speaking English? What the fuck is going on here?!" Lopez said, in perfect English. "What. The. Fuck?" Grif said. "What did you do to him, John?" Cortana asked. "No time to explain now!" John exclaimed, before turning to look at Cortana. "Cortana, take this Magnum!" John tossed his sidearm to her. "Now go to the Infirmary and hide with Doctor Halsey! Tell her it's code red! Tell her to get her SMG out from under her desk! We are getting invaded! Go, go, go!" John barked his orders. Cortana began to run towards the Infirmary. "And Cortana?" John asked. She turned to look at him. John said the three words he was incapable of saying. "I love you." he said. Cortana smiled gratefully. "I love you, too." she said, before turning and running again. "Alright! Defensive positions people! Let's move!" John said, as he loaded his Battle Rifle.

John ran forward and started to shoot the Combat Forms that came from the crashed Pelican. "Lopez, since you are a robot, I want you to go get the Warthog from Red Base! Is that clear?" John asked. "Yes. I will go do that now." Lopez said, as he ran towards Red Base, gunning down any Flood in his way. John ran forward still and shouted a command to 343 Guilty Spark, as he hovered not far behind him. "Sparky! I need you to utilize your Sentinel Beam now! Is that clear?" he asked. "Affirmative." 343 Guilty Spark beeped, as his Sentinel Beam fired. John tossed a Fragmentation Grenade ahead of him, killing about three Combat Forms when it went off. John flipped out of the way, as a Flood Tank lunged at him. John fired several rounds into the Tank's side, but it did not do anything helpful. The Tank lunged at John again, and it hit him with it's big tentacle arm thing. John went flying, hitting a rock as he landed. The Flood Tank approached John, as it prepared to finish him off. Just then, a firearm from behind the Tank went off, blowing a hole in the thing's rotten skin.

The thing fell to the ground next to Chief, revealing Sarge standing there, the barrel of his Shotgun smoking. "Someone order a fresh round of Sarge?" the Red Spartan asked, chuckling. Sarge offered Chief his hand and John took it gratefully. "Thanks, Sarge." John said. "Lopez should be around any mi-" John was interrupted by the music of a Warthog playing. The Warthog came flying over a rise, with Lopez in the driver's seat, and landed on three approaching Combat Forms, crushing them. Lopez stopped the Warthog, before turning to look at John and Sarge. "Someone order a Warthog?" the robot asked. "Hey, I didn't know you deliver, Lopez!" Sarge said. "You know our motto, old man." Lopez said. "Sarge, get in the Shotgun seat." John said, as he manned the turret. "It's payback time." Sarge chuckled as he got in the passenger seat. "Chief, I thought you'd never ask." Sarge replied, as he cocked his Shotgun. Lopez started up the Warthog again and they were off.

_Tucker_

_Blood Gulch_

"Swish, swish, stab, motherfuckers!" Tucker exclaimed, as he stabbed his way through a crowd of Flood Combat Forms. Tucker leaped over a Carrier Form, and tossed a frag behind him. Tucker spotted Carolina and Wash fighting back-to-back, as Flood Combat Forms assaulted them. _Speaking of assaulting, I would love to assault Carolina! Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow! _"God damn! I bet she is hot underneath that armor! I wonder what cup size she is?" he asked himself as he sliced through more Combat Forms. "I really shouldn't ask myself things like that." Tucker said. "But I just can't help it!" Tucker began to run towards Carolina and Washington. "How are things here?" Tucker asked, as the last of the Combat Forms were killed. "Things are going fine here, I guess." Carolina said. "What about you?" Tucker shrugged. "I'm just trying to survive." he said. "Well, you two find some more targets. I'm gonna go see what I can do over by Red Base." Washington said, as he ran off. "Wait, don't leave me here with this-" Carolina was protesting, but Washington was already gone. "-pervert." Carolina finished her sentence, as she looked at Tucker.

"Hey Baby, you want to-" Tucker was about to say his daily pervy thing to Carolina, but she interrupted him. "For the love of God, shut the fuck up." Carolina said. "What? Why?" Tucker asked. "Because you always have to hit on me every day!" Carolina said, as she began to fire at incoming Combat Forms. "It's part of my charm! Quit fucking it up!" Tucker exclaimed. "Quit hitting on me, you douche!" Carolina said, as she continued to fire. "You and I are never going to happen!" Tucker was kind of hurt. "But you've never even given us a chance!" he said, as he tossed a Fragmentation Grenade to contribute to the fight. "Get it through your skull, asshole! There is no us! There will never be us! Why do you care about a possible relationship?" she asked. "Because, I could die in this war and I haven't even been laid! I was just all talk and I've never been in a relationship!" Tucker said. " No one cares!" Carolina said, in a very agitated voice and she hit Tucker in the face with the butt of her Battle Rifle. Tucker stumbled and fell down. Tucker slowly got up and took off his helmet. He felt his nose and lips, to feel them to be wet with blood. He looked up at Carolina, suddenly feeling unimaginably angry.

"Let's not-" Carolina began to speak, but Tucker interrupted. "Fuck you, Carolina." Tucker said. "Stop hitting on me!" she screamed. "I'm being serious! Fuck you Carolina!" Tucker said. "What did I do?" she asked. "You are so agressive! You can't just hit anyone because they are like me!" Tucker said. "Why not?" Carolina shouted at him. "Because you just can't!" Tucker screamed. "You can't solve all your problems just by hitting the first person you see!" Carolina hit him in the stomach with the butt of her Rifle, causing him to stumble. Tucker was beyond angry by now. He activated his Energy Sword and started swinging towards Carolina. "Get away from me, you stupid bitch!" Tucker said, as he swung and she backed up. "You don't fucking understand! Being pervy is part of my nature! You are nothing but a stupid bitch who just cannot handle it! So, stay the fuck away from me, don't fucking talk to me and just fucking leave me alone!" Carolina just stood there, staring at Tucker. "Go!" he said in a annoyed tone, as he rolled his eyes at her. Carolina backed up a little bit, before turning around and running away.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

Tucker ran up to John and opened fire at the Flood surrounding him. "Why does it seem like we are always fighting for this place, Chief?" Tucker asked. "We fight. It's what we do. If we want the universe to survive this, we will have to fight." John said. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Tucker said. Suddenly, there was another loud roar, just like the one that rang out ten minutes before. "What was that?" Tucker said. "It was that roar again. I wonder who or _what_ is making it?" Simmons asked, as he stopped firing the Warthog's turret beside them. Just then, there was another loud roar and John saw several long tentacles coming from the cliffs outside the canyon. John dropped his Rifle, in confusion and out of fear. "Oh, fuck me." John said, letting out a sigh. His fears were confirmed, as he saw the gigantic fleshy mass come into view. "What. The. Fuck. Is. That?" Tucker asked. Part of the fleshy masses "skin" opened, revealing two rows of fang-like teeth. Then, it _spoke_. "I am a monument to all of your sins." it said. "Oh, shit. That is the Gravemind from Installation 05." John said. "Fuck!" Grif said, running over next to John. "The Gravemind is here?" John nodded.

"So it appears." he said. "Everyone will stop fighting." the Gravemind said. "If you are so eager to die, you can come to our home base to surrender." John stepped forward. "We are not surrendering!" John said. "We are going to fight to the death if necessary!" The Gravemind seemed to ponder this. "Then you will come to our lair, The High Charity, for your downfall." the Gravemind said. "That's impossible! The High Charity was destroyed years ago!" John protested. "We rebuilt it." the Gravemind continued. "Now that we have got that out of the way, you will go there within a few hours. And if you don't we will be forced to nuke this place from orbit." John was angry. Before John could say a thing, the Gravemind dissapated. "A hologram!" Cortana said, as she ran over to John. "Cortana!" John said, giving her the evil eye. "I told you to stay in the Infirmary!" Cortana looked confused. "But John, all of them are gone!" she said. John looked around the canyon. Cortana was right. "Whoa!" John said, as he realized the canyon was empty, except for them.

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

_Forty-Five Minutes Later..._

"Okay, I need suggestions people." John said. "I got one." Grif said. "Also, 'let's not do it' is not an option." John retorted. "Oh, bullshit." Grif said. "Come on! We need to fight them!" John said. Sarge cleared his throat. "This isn't our fight. This is not our war." Sarge said. "It's everyone's war!" John said. "If we lose, then the universe will fall. I can't fight this war alone!" Sarge just stood there. "Alright fine, but we a favor in return!" Sarge said. "What do you want?" John asked. "Chocolate cake." Grif said. "A pedicure!" Donut said. "A big science textbook!" Simmons said. "Can you demote Grif?" Sarge asked. John looked at Sarge. "Done." John said. "Grif, you are now 'Private Grif' again." Sarge grunted. "Do you have a problem, Sarge?" John asked. "Can you go lower than that?" Sarge asked. "Sure." John said. "You are now Junior Minor Negative Private Grif, Negative First Class." Grif sighed. "Oh, god damn it." Grif said. "So, how do we get to the High Charity?" John asked. He turned around and around, to see everyone standing in silence.

"Come on, people! What can we do?" John asked. Just then, he noticed Simmons staring at the Pelican. The Flood Pilot hadn't crashed it after all... He had a feeling that he knew what Simmons had in mind. "Simmons?" John asked. "There's the Pelican Dropship." Simmons said. Everyone looked at each other, trying to process what Simmons was thinking. Grif got the idea first. "Shotgun." Grif said, as he moved towards the Pelican. "I outrank you by at least ten ranks." Simmons said. "Get in the back." Grif growled. "Fuck!" he said. John walked over to Tucker as they all moved towards the Pelican. "Chief?" Tucker said. "Tucker, I have a job for you." John said. "We'll discuss your mission on the way to the High Charity." Tucker sighed. "Yes, sir." he said. "That's the spirit, Private." John said, as they all moved towards the Pelican to get it up and running. Caboose ran over to John. "Mister Chief! We can't find Church!" he said. "We have to find him!" John shook his head. "There isn't time for that right now, Private Caboose. We have to get aboard that Pelican!" John said, as he boarded the ship. Sarge got into the cockpit with Lopez, sitting in the co-pilot seat and said: "Where do you want to go today, Dirtbags?" Grif cleared his throat. "Boo, you suck!" Grif exclaimed, loud enough that Sarge would hear.

_John-117_

_Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

_Twenty Minutes Later..._

When John first saw the High Charity Flood Outpost, he knew that the Flood had done some work to it. It looked like a fleshy mass. Just like the Gravemind to be precise. If one were to take the original High Charity that John had scene during the war and recontructed it out of rotten flesh and "Flood Parts", that's what it would look like. "That thing is one ugly motherf-" Grif began to speak, but John interrupted. "You're not lying Grif!" John said. "Lopez, get us to one of those docking bays!" John said. "You got it, Chief!" Lopez called from the cockpit, still speaking perfect English. "Chief, you sure that your plan will work?" Tucker asked. "Trust me Tucker. I know that it will work." John said. "Lock and load, people!" John grabbed an Assault Rifle and slammed a new magazine into it. Sarge cocked his Shotgun. Everyone loaded their own weapon. About five minutes later, they landed in the docking bay. The all filed out of the Pelican within a minute of landing.

"All right everyone! I want all of you to be ready for anything!" John barked. "Hey Simmons?" Grif asked. "Yeah?" Simmons replied in return. "So, uh, where's the welcome wagon?" Grif asked. "What do you mean?" Simmons asked. "The Flood!" Grif exclaimed. "They aren't here! It's as if they missed the party! The Flood aren't here!" Tucker looked around the docking bay, checking all they corners. "He's right. They're not here." John said, as he lowered his weapon. "I still want all of you on high alert." All of a sudden, one of the doors opened and dozens of Combat Forms and Carrier Forms plunged into the room. "You were saying?" Tucker asked. "You know," Grif said, as he looked over at Simmons. "One day, I don't know when, I'm gonna learn to shut my fucking mouth." John sighed, as he pointed his Rifle at the incoming Combat Forms. "Weapons free!" John exclaimed.

A/N: So, I hope you guys liked part two of All-Out War! Merry Christmas, yet again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did, please follow and favorite the story. Also, if you'd like to submit your input, than a review or PMing me would be the way to do that. I appreciate you all for reading so far and until the next chapter today, Merry Christmas!


	24. Chapter 23: All-Out War: Part Three

Chapter 23: All-Out War: Part Three

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello, yet another Merry Christmas and welcome to the finale of "All-Out War"! I hope the last chapter was pleasant and I hope that you enjoy this final chapter of the sage that has come to be known as "All-Out War". I would also like to say that the name of the Story-Arc is a reference to a two-part story (of the same name) of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. I'd just like to give credit to the inspiration to the title of this story-arc. So, if you enjoy this chapter, please follow and/or favorite the story. Also, if you want to submit your opinion, than you'd want to leave a review or PM me. I try to respond to all the reviews now (I won't respond if it's a simple review, such as: Good job or keep up the good work.). So, without further ado, I hope that you enjoy this final part!

_John-117_

_The Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

John opened fire on the incoming Flood, as about seven of them went down. "You can't tell me that you weren't expecting this, John!" Sarge said, as he approached the Master Chief, shotgunning the Combat Forms that were getting too close. "Don't call me John. Only Cortana can call me John!" John said. Speaking of Cortana, she was safe back in Blood Gulch with Doctor Halsey in the Infirmary, incase someone was injured and they had to be returned to the canyon for medical attention. "Let's get this done quick and clean people!" John said, as he moved up, while tossing a Fragmentation Grenade. All of a sudden, a rocket launched in front of John, taking out several Combat Forms and Infection forms. John turned around to see Doc lowering a Rocket Launcher. "Fly, you fools." Doc said, but it didn't sound like Doc, his voice sounded distorted. "Mwah-ha-ha!"

"Doc?" John asked. "Are you feeling alright?" Doc nodded. "Of course I do." Doc said, his voice sounding normal. "I feel great." John sighed as he reloaded. "All right people! The docking bay is clear! Let's move on to the corridors and make our way up to the Gravemind's chamber!" John went over to a door that was jammed and bashed it with the butt of his Rifle. "Move out!" John said, as he waved his Rifle through the door. They all ran through the door, with Grif running to John's side. "Chief, how do you know that the Gravemind has his own royal chamber-type thing?" he asked. "I don't." John said, as he rounded a corner. "I just assumed." Grif said nothing for a few seconds. "But Sir, I thought you told us to never assume?" he finally asked. "You just had to get one disrespectful comment to the Master Chief before we died, didn't you?" Simmons asked. "Eh, it was a given." Grif said. "Besides, it's payback for that fucked up speech he gave in Valhalla." John grunted. "Oh, don't even talk about that, Dexter Grif." John said. Grif shut up after that.

_Cortana_

_Blood Gulch_

It had been a boring day since John left. Cortana had wanted him by her side ever since she regained her memory. But, as luck would have it, John wasn't here right now. She would just have to hope that he would come home in one piece. She loved him so much. And she was so glad that he had finally told her the same. "Cortana." Doctor Halsey said, in a slightly annoyed tone. Cortana looked up at the old Doctor. "What?" she asked. "I know that you are thinking of John, it's obvious. But can you not stare off into space with googly eyes as you think of him?" Doctor Halsey asked. "Doctor Halsey, I love him! And I don't even know if he is going to return home!" Cortana said, in a sort of pleading voice. Doctor Halsey gave Cortana what looked like a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry honey. I haven't been a good, supporting mother to you in the past few months, have I?" she asked. Cortana shook her head. "No. You've been the perfect mother to me. Even if you won't allow John and I to be together." Cortana said. "But I know one thing." Doctor Halsey raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?" she asked.

Cortana smiled sort of a sad smile. "I forgive you." Cortana said. Doctor Halsey looked shocked. "I'm sorry?" she asked. "You are the only mother I'll ever know Doctor." Cortana asked. "And if you don't want me to be with John as his love interest, than I can accept that. I forgive you." Doctor Halsey smiled a weak, sad smile. "Oh, Cortana. You really do love him. Don't you?" she asked. Cortana nodded. "Well, okay then. Okay." Doctor Halsey said. "What are you saying?" Cortana asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "You have my blessing." Doctor Halsey said. "What?" Cortana asked, feeling as if she could cry tears of joy. "Are you saying that John and I can be together?" she asked. Doctor Halsey nodded. "If he wants to marry me, you wouldn't have a problem?" Cortana asked. "If you want him to marry you, who am I to stand in the way of your dreams?" Doctor Halsey said. Cortana smiled. "I can't stop thinking of the muscular body underneath that armor." she whispered. "And Cortana?" Doctor Halsey asked. Cortana looked up. "If you love John, please refrain from talking about him like that while you are in my presence." she said. Cortana just blushed.

_John-117_

_The Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

As John and Company reached the next level a very loud voice began to speak. John could tell it was the Gravemind from past experiences of rescuing Cortana from this hellish nightmare. Now, it was even worse. "I can tell you are a group of formidable soldiers. So, make your way up to the highest level of my Flood infested fortress. I will command my troops to stand down. But I can't promise all of them will follow protocol." the voice said. John continued jogging through the corridors. "You heard the man, let's move!" John said, as he continued sprinting. They eventually came to the end of a corridor with a grav lift. "Men, we will go up that grav lift. It will take us to the top level. I know from past experience that it will work." John said. They all acknowledged the order and moved into the grav lift one at a time. Eventually they all got to the top, to see a giant door that was locked from the inside. All of a sudden, they heard the Gravemind's voice again.

"Now that you have all made it here, let's see if you soldiers are really as good as you have proven yourselves to be." the Gravemind growled from elsewhere. _He must be using speakers to transmit messages. Or something else. I can't put my finger on it._ "I am in two rooms over from the room you are currently in. In the next room, my honor guard awaits you." the Gravemind continued. "You have three minutes to take defensive positions if you feel it is necessary. And after that time is up, I will let them all bombard you. If you survive, then I will allow you to enter my chamber. You now have three minutes." The Gravemind's voice went off from whatever speaker it was transmitting from. John sighed. "So Chief, what's the plan _after_ the Gravemind has been killed?" Donut asked. John reached around to his back and pulled off the cylinder-like explosive device that he was carrying. "I found this nuke aboard the Pelican Dropship." John said. "After the Gravemind has been killed, we blow this place to kingdom come."

"Um, Sir?" Grif asked. "Won't the blast destroy this place and send the debris down to Blood Gulch?" John hadn't thought about that. "I uh, hadn't thought about it. I guess, we'll have to sacrifice ourselves." John said, in a sad voice. Sarge dropped his Battle Rifle and took his Shotgun off his back, cocking it. "You know what they say boys. Today, is a good day to die." he said. "No. No!" Noble Six said. "You won't have to sacrifice yourselves." John turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean, I'm immune to death. Remember?" Noble Six asked. John nodded. "Chief, I can activate the bomb's self destruct sequence and I can make it to the escape pods that they have here before the nuke detonates." Six said. "What about Blood Gulch?" Grif asked. "I can pilot the city away from orbit and out of the system. That way, when it blows, the debris will float endlessly in space for all time." Six said. "What if you don't make it in time?" Caboose said. Everyone looked at him, in shock. But Noble Six didn't seem mad. "Then I guess that I'll just float forever." Six said. "But-" John began to speak, but Six interrupted. "Chief, you either die a villain, or live long enough to see yourself become a hero." Six said, in a solemn tone.

"That's beautiful." Donut said. Six shrugged. "It's what seperates me from _them_." he said, referring to the Flood. "Noble Six, if you survive this and return to Blood Gulch, you will have earned my trust." John said. "Chief, it's been an honor." Simmons said. "You just had to get one more ass-kissing in before we died didn't you?" Grif asked. "If I die, please make sure my parts are recycled." Lopez said. "I love you, Lopez!" Donut exclaimed. "Aw, that's so sweet!" Doc said, before speaking in a different voice. "Now, let's strike fear into the hearts of our enemies!" Across the room, Grif spoke. "For a Medic who doesn't really help anyone and claims to be smart, I think that was the smartest thing that you've ever said." he said. All of a sudden, the doors in front of them opened. "Lock and load people!" John exclaimed. Sarge cocked his Shotgun, Donut loaded his dual wield Magnums, Grif loaded his Brute Shot, which he claimed after the Meta died (again) and Simmons loaded his Battle Rifle, John got his Rifle ready. "Ready!" Freckles, the AI in Caboose's Rifle beeped. Tucker turned on his Energy Sword, Carolina loaded her Battle Rifle, Washington loaded his Battle Rifle, Tex loaded her DMR and Six slammed a fresh drum magazine into his Saw. "It's go time." John said.

_**Roses are Red and Violets are Blue...**_

A/N: Good times. Just paying homage to the end of season 10. Also, the final words the crew exchanges, I do realize that's pretty much exactly how it worked in the end of Season 13. I just want to remind you (or say it if I never had) that some, if not most, of Season 13 in non-canon with this story. The same goes with everything after "Cortana's death" in Halo 4, the comic books and various novels. Also, there are only three chapters left! So, that is the end of the All-Out War story-arc. I hope ya'll enjoyed it! So, if you enjoyed this chapter, please follow and/or favorite the story and if you want to submit a review or PM me for input, that would be great! As always, I wish you a Merry Christmas! And until the next chapter release today, peace!


	25. Chapter 24: Gravemind

Chapter 24: Gravemind

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello. Before I start, I want to apologize to all of the readers who expected the story to be finished on Christmas Day. Well, it obviously didn't happen. And that is because I went to bed sick Christmas Day and I forgot all about my promise. I apologize again. But with all of that said, welcome to the next chapter. In this chapter, John will figure out if attempting to kill the Gravemind from Installation 05 was really worth doing. Also, Carolina and Tucker will kind of a have a moment to make up. I hope you have enjoyed this story so far, because the last chapter doesn't exactly have a happy ending and it will be all _too_ familiar. So, please follow and/or favorite the story, as it really has been fun to write. Also, if you want to submit your opinion, then please, I ask you to submit a review and/or PM me. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and without further ado, let's start it off!

_John-117_

_Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

John stared at the smoking, dead Flood bodies, they _were_ actually dead this time. "I can't believe that actually worked." Simmons said. "Could you have done that _before_ I was kicked in the balls fifty-bazillion times?" Grif asked. "Oh, shut up you wimp!" Tex said. "You're one to talk!" Grif said. "You've kicked me in the nuts so many times, that I can't count!" Simmons scoffed. "Then you probably can't count that high." Simmons said. "Nice burn, Simmons!" Sarge said. "Thank you, Sir!" Simmons replied in return. "Kiss-ass." Grif said. "Let's focus people." John said, as he placed his Rifle on his back. He walked over to the source of the smoke. 343 Guilty Spark deactivated his Active Camo that Tex had lent the AI and hovered over to John. "Thank you, Sparky." John said. And he meant it. "You are welcome!" 343 Guilty Spark beeped. "How did you do that?" Tucker asked, as he walked up next to Chief. "The files I picked up from interfacing with the Sentinel Body. I learned how to utilize my beam to a hundred percent."

"Can you do it again for the fight against the Gravemind?" John asked. "Negative. That attack used up a significant amount of energy. I won't be able to it again any time soon." the AI said. John sighed. "That's alright." John said. "We'll go with our original plan. Tucker! Doc! Now!" Tucker and Doc ran over to John. "Do you two remember what to do?" John asked. Tucker sighed. "What was I supposed to do again?" he asked. 343 Guilty Spark hovered over to Tucker. "From what I saw of it's chamber when I hacked their 'camera system', the Gravemind sits atop a pedestal. However, the pedestal has one weak thing about it." the AI beeped. "What is that weak thing?" John asked. "The pedestal it sits on, it has a medium sized hole in it, exposing it's weak spot in it's flabby 'skin'." 343 Guilty Spark. "Why would it do that?" Tucker asked. "It must think we don't possess an energy weapon powerful enough to wound it significantly." the AI chirped. "We don't. It's right." Tucker said. "No. We _do_ have an energy weapon." John said. Tucker turned to look at John. "But Chief, what is the weapon?" he asked. John stared at the Energy Sword that sat on Tucker's thigh. Tucker followed his glance. "Oh, fuckberries." Tucker finally said.

_Tucker_

_Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

After several minutes of listening to the plan, Tucker knew what he was in for. He was supposed to slide underneath the pedestal, while the crew put down covering fire, stab it when he got the chance and Doc would finish it off with a few well placed rockets. "Remember, when you stab the creature, it could potentially overload the sword and harm you, even enough to cause your death." 343 Guilty Spark said. "Please don't say death!" Tucker exclaimed. The doors in front of them opened and they saw the Gravemind sitting on it's pedestal. "It's time." the Master Chief said. They all walked towards the door. Tucker started walking through the door, but someone grabbed him from behind. He turned around, to see Carolina standing there. "I thought I told you to leave me the fuck alone." Tucker said. "I don't care, I want to tell you t-" Tucker interrupted without a second thought. "I don't give a damn about what you want to tell me!" Tucker said. "I thought I had made a clear message. Now get the fuck away from me and let me do m-" Carolina interrupted him.

"I'm sorry." she said. "What did you just say?" he asked, slightly irritated. "I'm sorry you've never been able to have a relationship." she said, sounding solemn about it. "Okay..." Tucker said. "Look, if we survive this," Carolina began to speak and it sounded like she was really struggling to speak. "I just want you to know that I might think about taking you out for a coffee. Or whatever is socially acceptable these days." Tucker just stared at her. "Are you serious?" he asked. Carolina looked down at her feet, before looking up at him. "Yes." she said. "That's very nice of you, Carolina." Tucker finally said. "Tucker, let's go!" Tucker heard the Master Chief calling to him. "So, ready to go be the hero?" Carolina asked, as they ran to catch up to the others. "Ugh. Let's just go get this over with." Tucker said. They ran into the room together and immediately got bombarded by enemy fire. "Take cover!" the Master Chief called to the group. Tucker ran to cover and hid with the Master Chief. "Okay Tucker, we are going to cover you, so all _you_ need to do is slide under that pedestal and stab that thing. Can you do that?" the Master Chief asked.

"Of course I can do it, Chief! What's so fucking difficult about swish, swish, stab?" Tucker asked. "Whatever you say, Private." the Master Chief said. "Okay. We're going to cover you. Get ready!" Tucker just barely peeked out from cover and surveyed the room for a good path to the target. When he finally found it, he spoke. "Ready." Tucker said. "Now!" the Master Chief yelled, as all of them except Tucker exited cover and fired in all directions enemies were present at. Tucker leapt out from cover and sprinted for the pedestal. _Make it count!_ he thought to himself, as he neared the pedestal. Tucker went into the slide and just hoped for the best.

_Epsilon-Church_

_Blood Gulch_

Church appeared in his holographic form as he interfaced with the Blue Base terminal console. "Are you sure about this, Epsilon?" Delta asked, appearing next to Church. "I'm positive." Church said. "Start the recording and the replication process." Delta seemed to be thinking for a minute. "Replication for the AIs or you?" he finally said. "Both." Church said. "Replicate both the AIs and me." Delta hovered without speaking. "And you are sure?" he asked. "I'm sure!" Church said, slightly irritated. "If you say so." Delta said. "What if they need you?" Church sighed. "If they need me that bad, they'll know how to wake me up!" he said. "Let's see if this is all worth it." he said.

_Tucker_

_Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

Tucker slid underneath the pedestal and began to fire at the Gravemind's weak spot that was covered by a thin coating of flabby, rotten "flesh", if you could call it that. Once the skin was gone, Tucker took out his Energy Sword and activated it. "Okay you rotten piece of shit. Now you get yours!" Tucker exclaimed. With one single heave, Tucker forced his Sword through the narrow slit, that the ancient AI had said was supposed to lead the the Gravemind's "heart" or power source. The Gravemind let out a roar of pain so loud, that it hurt Tucker's ears. Tucker couldn't hold his ears. The only thing he could do was hold the Sword in place and try to keep it forced upward, as he could feel it vibrating. "Doc, fire the rockets! Now!" Tucker heard the Master Chief exclaim. "Fall, you bloody fool!" Doc said, in his "O'Malley" voice. Doc fired the Rocket Launcher and Tucker felt the Gravemind shudder. "Oh, yeah! That thing took it the the mouth!" Donut said.

"Shut the fuck up." Lopez said. "Yes, please. God, with your innuendos." Simmons said. Tucker had to brace his right hand with with his left hand, to keep his Sword in it's spot. "It's collapsing!" Tucker heard the Master Chief shout. "Just hold on a little longer!" Tucker grunted. "Way ahead of you, Chief." Tucker whispered, as it was the only strength he had. "A few more Rockets Doc! Back him up with grenades men!" the Master Chief exclaimed. Tucker heard several Frags being thrown. Tucker looked down, after he heard something. He was met with a Frag Grenade sitting right at his feet. "Oh, shit!" Tucker exclaimed, as he kicked it away. It exploded after Tucker kicked it away and the resulting explosion sent shrapnel flying. Some of shrapnel cut through the layer of jumpsuit that the Mjolnir Armor was placed against and it cut through some of his skin underneath the suit. "Ow, god damn it!" Tucker said. "Can you not throw grenades my way?!" Several seconds later, someone spoke. "Tucker did it!" Caboose said. "Why does Caboose get grenades?" Simmons asked.

Tucker could feel blood coming from the wound in his lower leg. And he felt something else. He touched his abdomen, to feel a few cuts in his protective gel layer. He brought his hand back up in front of his visor and saw blood. _His_ blood. "Oh, fuck." he said. Above him, the Gravemind shuddered as it took another rocket. "Take this and call my other personality in the morning!" Doc said as he laughed. All of a sudden, Tucker felt his sword vibrating even more than it had been. Seconds later, a wave of energy pulsed through his armor. Tucker was knocked back away from the Gravemind and fell to the deck of the room. He looked to his right, to see that he was still holding the sword, but it was malfunctioning. It was flickering on and off. As Tucker's vision began to fade, he thought of Carolina's words to him. _If we survive this, I just wanted to let you know that I might just think about taking you out for a cup of coffee._ "A cup of coffee." Tucker said, as he began to lose consciousness. "And I won't even survive." He could already see his file or status after this whole thing. _Private First Class Lavernius Tucker. Status: K.I.A._ Tucker's vision faded and he lost consciousness.

_John-117_

_Holy City of High Charity, Flood Outpost_

"God damn it!" John said, as he got out from cover, firing on the Gravemind to keep his mouth open, so that his team could fire rockets and toss grenades into the beast's mouth, destroying it from the inside out. "Keep fire on the damn thing!" John sprang from cover and began to run towards the platform, dodging the fire of the Flood Combat Forms that remained. John slid underneath the pedestal to investigate Tucker's condition. "Tucker! Tucker!" John exclaimed, over the sound of all the explosions. "Oh God. He's breathing, but he's been cut by shrapnel. Doc, if we don't get Tucker medical attention soon, he'll die!" There was no answer from Doc. "Doc!" John exclaimed. "Yeah, I'm here!" Doc exclaimed. "I need you to get Tucker out of here once you have taken care of the Gravemind!" Doc said nothing for a second. "But, Chief! The Gravemind has already been taken care of!" he said at last. John got up and ran out from under the pedestal and turned around to look up.

Doc was actually right. Sort of. The Gravemind was slowly opening and closing it's mouth. It's "skin" was blistering up. "You're right." John said. He walked over to in front of the Gravemind. "Why did you let us win?" John asked. "What was the point of it?" The Gravemind didn't speak. "Talk!" John shouted. Eventually, it spoke. "I was a distraction." Was all it could say, before it's mouth closed and it collapsed. John didn't know if it was dead, but he had a pretty good idea that it was. "I think it's dead." John said. Just then, a door to his right opened and a Flood Tank sprang into the room, attacking the group. "Oh, fuck!" Simmons said, as he opened fire on Tank. "Every man for himself! Women and children last!" Grif said, running as he fired the Bruteshot. Out of the corner of his eye, John saw the Flood Tank running towards him. He turned around to fire at the monster, but it was too late. The Tank hit John with it's giant tentacle arm thing, sending John flying into a metal structure. The Tank sprinted towards John, and was about to rain hell on him again, when something shocking happened.

Caboose ran over to the Tank and hit it with the butt of his Assault Rifle. The Tank stumbled backwards after it took the hit. The Tank eventually regained it's concentration and continued it's advance, still heading towards John. However, Caboose placed his Rifle on his back and ran over to grab the Tank's tentacle arm and actually succeeded in _forcing_ it back the way it came. "My name is Michael J. Caboose, and you won't hurt Mister Chief!" Caboose bellowed. Caboose kicked the Tank back back the way it came and when it fell, Caboose walked over to it, taking the Rifle off from his back. "Freckles! Now!" Caboose said. "Affirmative." Freckles said, before the Rifle fired it's entire magazine into the Flood Tank's chest. After he finished, Caboose slammed a fresh magazine into his Rifle. He walked over to where John was lying on the deck and stuck his hand out. John took it gratefully. "You, you saved my life." John said, his voice full of awe, confusion, and thankfulness all at the same time. Caboose shrugged. "Yeah, I uh, thought it would be fun." he said. "How were you even able to get that thing away from the Chief?" Simmons asked in shock.

"Oh, I just think that I'm a very scary person and that I am very strong!" Caboose said, as he lifted his Rifle in the air and fired confetti all over the place. "I call bullshit on that." Grif said, as he loaded his Bruteshot. "Guys, Tucker could be dying!" Carolina exclaimed. "We have to get him to safety, now!" Washington reloaded his Battle Rifle and looked at Carolina. "Since when do you care about what happens to Tucker?" he asked. "I don't." Carolina said. "But I've seen enough people die. I'd rather not see anymore people die." John sighed and nodded. "I'll grab Tucker. Lopez, go back the way we came and prep the Pelican for dust-off." he said. All of the Reds and Blues left the way they came, leaving only Tucker, John and Noble Six. As John lifted Tucker up onto his shoulder, Noble Six spoke. "You know what I have to do." he said. John nodded. He reached around to his back and gripped the nuke. He handed it off to Six. "I hope you can make it out." John said. Six nodded. "So do I." he said. "Good luck." John said. And with that, he ran out of the chamber, carrying Tucker the whole way.

_Tucker_

_Blood Gulch_

_Thirty to Forty Minutes Later..._

Tucker slowly opened his eyes, still in a lot of pain. He could only keep his eyes open for seconds at a time. Or for minutes or hours at a time, for all he knew. He saw the Master Chief above him, with his helmet off, looking down at him, with a solemn look on his face. He could hear the roar of the Pelican Dropship's engine. The Chief looked to his right and Tucker could barely hear him say: "What are you waiting for?! Chinese New Year?! Get Tucker on that makeshift stretcher!" Tucker slowly lifted his hand, using all the strength he had left and felt his helmet. No, his face. Someone had taken off his helmet. He reached up to try to pick himself with something, but his vision faded again as his hand hit the surface of the Pelican. "If you keep going that slow, Tucker will bleed out before we even get to the Infirmary! Hurry up!" he could barely hear the Chief yell. As Tucker faded again, one thought remained in his head. _Private First Class Lavernius Tucker. Status: K.I.A._

Tucker opened his eyes again, what seemed to me minutes later. He saw the sky above him and he felt someone's hand's on his lower torso. He could barely hear the sound of running footsteps. "Carolina, keep pressure on that wound!" Tucker could barely hear the Chief shout. "I'm trying, Chief!" Carolina said, as he continued to be moved. Tucker closed his eyes again. _Private First Class Lavernius Tucker. Status: K.I.A._ Tucker could still hear what was going on, but just barely.

_John-117_

John pushed into the Infirmary, while still transporting Tucker. "Out of the way!" he shouted. "Tucker needs medical attention!" Cortana got up and ran to John's side, while Doctor Halsey stood up from her desk. "What happened?!" she exclaimed. "Hey! Didn't you hear me?" John shouted. "Private Tucker is wounded!" Halsey rushed from behind her desk. "Cortana! Get a cot ready! We have to prep Tucker for surgery if necessary!" she exclaimed. Cortana nodded and went to go get one of their cots ready. Several minutes later, Tucker had been put on a cot and had been stripped of his upper body armor, along with some of his lower armor, exposing his knees and everything below that. Halsey was shouting orders to everyone, and it just made it worse that Tucker had awoken again in the middle of all this. He reached up and grabbed Carolina's shoulder, just to hold onto something and began to cough. And he didn't just cough. He coughed up blood. And it got on Carolina's breastplate.

"Restrain him! He can't be fidgeting around while I perform surgery to remove the shrapnel!" Halsey shouted. "I have to sedate him if he is to even make it to surgery!" John and Carolina worked to keep Tucker held down against the cot. "I'm sorry Tucker! You'll thank me when you survive this!" John said, keeping him held down, as Halsey administered the sedative via needle. Once he had gone under, Halsey began to quickly prep her surgical tools. That's when Tucker's monitor flat-lined. "Doctor! The patient has flat-lined! His heart isn't beating, but he is breathing!" Cortana said. "I'm on it! I might be able to get his heart beating again!" Halsey said. "Everyone get back!" John and everyone else obeyed and moved back. A few seconds later, Halsey approached Tucker. "Clear!" Halsey exclaimed. A second or two later, they heard Tucker's heart begin to beat again. It was faint and slow, but it was there. "Do you think he'll survive?" Carolina asked John. "Of course he will." John said as he grunted. "Tucker is a tough guy. If he survived multiple Flood outbreaks, than he can survive a little shrapnel to the leg and abdomen." _Private First Class Lavernius Tucker. Status: W.I.A._

A/N: Okay, that is the chapter! For those of you who do not know, W.I.A. is a military acronym, standing for "wounded in action". So, what did you think of Tucker's near death experience? Are you satisfied with the ending to the conflict with the Flood? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please favorite and follow the story, as it helps the story out. And please don't forget to review or PM me if you want to submit input. Again, I'm sorry that this story wasn't finished Christmas Day, but as I said, I got sick. And I can't prevent getting sick. I didn't even feel like writing at that time. I mean, would you? Anyway, I'm going to go though, so have a good day and bye.


	26. Chapter 25: The End Is Nigh

Chapter 25: The End Is Nigh

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters**

A/N: Hello and welcome to the second to last chapter! This chapter is going to "tie up some loose ends" for the story. Those things being: Did Tucker survive? What happens next for the crew? What his Church (Epsilon) up to? Well, most questions will be answered in this chapter. I will hopefully start writing the sequel tomorrow and it will be posted later on this month or in early April. I haven't really decided yet. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that being said, let's get on with it!

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

_Several Days Later_

"I'm sorry." John said. "I should never have let my guard down after the battle of Blood Gulch. I should be dead right now. These men, they need a proper leader. And I can't fill that role. You were the only one that could have been their captain. But if you were still here, could you have trusted me to be their captain? Could you have trusted me to take that final step, to do what was absolutely necessary?" John stared at Mendez's makeshift gravestone. He sighed. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to lead them. Thank you for your time, sir." John said. "Mendez is dead. So why do you try to have a conversation with him, when he's not even here anymore?" John heard someone speak from behind him, sounding as if they were demonic. He turned around, to see Cortana standing there. He turned back around to look at the gravestone and then turned back to look at Cortana, being very confused. "What?" he asked. "I said, 'You must miss him so much'." she said.

He raised an eyebrow. He felt skeptical, about that being what she had really said. He nodded. "Yes, I do." he said. "Well, he is dead now. So, maybe that's a plus." Cortana said. "What?" John asked, as he looked at her. "I said 'He's dead now. And you have to take the responsibility of being their captain'." she said. "I know." John said. "Well, Doctor Halsey wanted me to come get you. To tell you that Tucker died this morning." John looked at her with a look of complete shock. "What?" he asked. Cortana let out a sigh. "I said that 'Doctor Halsey wanted me to come get you. To tell you that Tucker woke up ten minutes ago." John let out a sigh of frusteration as he turned to look at Cortana. "No. That is not what you said. I swear, I just heard you say that Tucker died this morning!" he said. Cortana shook her head. "I didn't say that John." she said. "Are you feeling okay?" John nodded. "I feel fine, Cortana. I think the question is "Are _you_ feeling okay?" Cortana nodded. "I feel fine." she said. John grabbed her forearm and touched her forehead with the back of his hand. She wasn't running a fever. He brought his hand away and let go of her forearm.

"I feel fine." she repeated. John narrowed his eyes. Cortana met his eyes. It was as if they were having a staring contest. "Cortana." he said, through gritted teeth. "Okay, okay." she said as she sighed. "I have been feeling... different. And for the last couple days, people have constantly been asking me to repeat myself." John crossed his arms, knowing he had won. "See? Was that really too hard? Now go sit in the corner!" he said, as he walked towards the entrance to Blue Base. "Where are you going?" Cortana called. John emerged a few seconds later, with a small box in his hand, from the UNSC themselves. "I need to go have a chat with Tucker. You stay in that spot and try to think about what is happening to you." John walked off towards the Infirmary and got there in a matter of minutes. He walked in and stopped at Doctor Halsey's desk. "John." she greeted, looking up at him. "Tucker is awake." He nodded. "I know." John said. "But before I talk to him, I need to talk to you. Doctor, have you noticed anything weird about Cortana lately?"

Doctor Halsey looked at him. "No, I haven't. And you haven't noticed anything? I find that highly unbelievable, as you two are 'infatuated'." she said. "Well, infatuated is a word. But no. I haven't noticed anything." John said. "Well, what have you noticed then, John?" Doctor Halsey asked. "She came to me today and told me that you wanted to see me, that Tucker was awake. But, that's not what I heard her say the first time. I could have sworn that she said that Tucker died this morning." John said. "How very interesting. Obviously Tucker is alive. But, why do you think she said that?" Doctor Halsey asked. "I don't know. Do you know anything about it?" John asked. Doctor Halsey shook her head. "No. But I'll have Cortana come in later today and I'll give her a routine check up, it's what we do to make sure she is okay both physically and mentally." John nodded. "Thank you Doctor." he said. "I'm going to go talk with Tucker now." Doctor Halsey nodded. "Go right ahead, John." she said. John walked over to the cot that Tucker had been sleeping on since his surgery. He walked past the curtain that had been set up, for Tucker's privacy. He saw Carolina sitting beside Tucker's cot. As surprising as it was, she hadn't left that spot since they got back from the High Charity, at least he didn't think she had left.

He looked at Tucker on the cot, seeing him still with his armor on, at least on his lower body, down until his knees. It's as if he was wearing shorts. His entire abdomen had been bandaged and his lower left leg had been bandaged as well. The blanket that had been put on him was at his ankles, covering his feet. "Hello, Private Tucker. You look like hammered shit." John said. Tucker coughed a little, before looking up at John. "Very funny." he said. "How do you feel?" John asked. "Like hammered shit." Tucker said, repeating the Chief's line. "Do you remember anything?" John asked. "Anything at all?" Tucker just laid there. "Um, I remember a grenade and my sword exploded in my hand. That's all. I can't remember anything else." Tucker finally said. John nodded. "That doesn't surprise me." John said. "Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?" Tucker said nothing. John thought that he was going to have to repeat himself. "There is good news?" Tucker finally asked. "Yes. There is. You survived a being fragged. And an explosion in your hand." John said. "There was a combined total of twelve pieces of shrapnel in you. Four pieces in your lower leg. And there were eight pieces in your abdomen. And Doctor Halsey got all of it out. Thank her later." Tucker said nothing. "And the bad news?" he asked.

John frowned. "Well, take a look at your right hand." he said. Tucker lifted up his left hand and looked at it. "What about it?" he asked, as he looked back at John. John rolled his eyes. "Your other right hand." He and Carolina said, in unison. Tucker lowered his left hand and then lifted up his right hand. He saw that it was all bandaged up. "Fuck!" Tucker said. "What happened?!" John sighed. "Your energy sword sort of exploded in your hand. The heat generated by said 'explosion' burned your hand, even through your armor. Halsey said if it weren't for your armored glove, that your right hand would have been amputated." he said. "I mean, just look at your bedside table." Tucker looked over to where his glove was sitting on the table. "You see, it's completely charred. It's black." John said. "There's no trace of the teal color it once was." Tucker didn't speak after looking back at John. "Tucker?" John asked. Tucker looked at him with an angry look on his face. "It's aqua-marine, dipshit." he said, sounding angry. "Actually, it's aqua blue." Carolina replied, speaking for the first time. "What the fuck ever." Tucker responded. "Well, anyway," John said, presenting the box to Tucker. "I did come here for two reasons. One, to present you with this-" John opened the box, showing off the purple medal inside.

"What's that?" Tucker asked. "Private Tucker, you were wounded in combat. And, since you survived, you are eligable to be presented with this Purple Heart medal, courtesy of the United Nations Space Command." he said. Tucker spoke. "I could have sworn I would be K.I.A." he said. "You were. For about ten seconds, your heart stopped beating." Carolina said. "Bet you were happy about that." Tucker said. "What does that mean?" John said. "Nothing. What's the other thing you came here for?" Tucker asked, as he took the medal and placed it on the bedside table. John stuck out his hand. Tucker looked at him confused, before taking his hand with his left and shook. "Congratulations, _Lance Corporal _Tucker." John said. Tucker looked at him, still confused. "Lance Corporal Tucker? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "The UNSC gave me permission to promote you. Didn't you get the memo?" John said. "By the way, a few days ago, I read your file. It says you were once a Captain, along with Grif, Simmons and Caboose. What happened to that?" Tucker just sat there for a moment. "Back on Chorus, we were all promoted to Captains, to train a new group of soldiers. Palomo, Bitters, Jensen, Cunningham, Rogers and others I can't even remember." he said. "Once the war on Chorus was over and Felix was dead, we all came back here. And we were all stripped of our ranks. A sort of 'fresh start'. Even Sarge had gone back to Sergeant, after being promoted to Colonel."

"I should probably leave you to rest now, Tucker. Congratulations on your promotion." John got up from his seat and left the room. Ever since the destruction of High Charity (again), the UNSC had taken notice of this and they put Project Freelancer back into commision. Well, kind of. Admiral Hood himself had talked with John and told him that in Mendez's place, he would be their captain and he would continue training them, along with new recruits over time. It wouldn't be the same Project Freelancer that the late Doctor Leonard Church had created. They'd be their own special branch and military organization of the UNSC. The UNSC would be delivering food, ammo, actual clothing so the crew wouldn't have to wear armor 24/7 and supplies to build homes in the gulch. They'd be delivered on a monthly basis. John could already see it. No more living in the bases. There would be actual beds to lay in, actual roofs to sleep under, actual food to eat. An actual safe haven.

_Tucker_

"I'm scarred for life. You do know that right?" Tucker asked. "These burn scars and the scars from the shrapnel surgery!" Carolina shrugged. "I don't know." she said. "I think they'll be seen as being sexy one day." Tucker scoffed. "They're not 'sexy'. They're hideous! And don't even get me started on the promotion!" Carolina cleared her throat. "You didn't sound very grateful for your promotion." Carolina agreed. "You don't say." Tucker said. "Maybe it's because I'm not grateful at all." Carolina stared at him. "What? Why?" she asked. "Because I should be dead right now." Tucker asked. "Do you want to be dead?" Carolina asked. "Do you want the truth?" Tucker asked. She nodded. "Yes, I wanted to be fucking dead!" he said. "But why?" Carolina asked. "Because no one here likes me. And let's be honest. Even _you_ hate me, Carolina." Carolina was silent. "Tucker, I don't hate you. And I don't want to fight with you again." she said. "I don't fucking care! Carolina, if I had died, I would have finally been able to rest. I was fucked monumentally!" Tucker said.

There was silence. "Um, aren't you going to say your catch phrase?" Carolina asked. "Fuck. No." Tucker said. "Why?" she asked. "Hmm. That's a hard one. Let's see, how about this: Lavernius Tucker is fucking dead, Carolina!" Carolina looked at him. "Is that the truth?" Carolina asked. "It fucking is. Sure, Lavernius Tucker is sitting right here in front of you, but he's not the same. I'm not the same fun-loving, pervy Private First Class I once was. And that's probably for the better." Tucker asked. "I'm a Lance Corporal now. And I should act like a soldier, not a five-fucking-year-old boy!" Tucker pulled the blanket up to his lower torso and laid back down. "Is that it?" Carolina asked. "It is." Tucker said, as he closed his eyes. "Do you want me to leave?" Carolina asked. "You can. But you don't have to. If you want to leave, than go. But if you want to stay, go ahead. No one is going to stop you." he said. "Okay then." Carolina said, as he heard her get up.

_Doctor Halsey_

_Two Hours Later..._

"How do my tests look, Doctor?" Cortana asked. "Hold on, I'm processing through the all of the information." Doctor Halsey replied, as she looked over piece of information after piece of information. That's when a chill went down her spine. She saw the information that informed her that Cortana was slowly going insane. "What is it, Doctor?" Cortana asked. "Cortana, come over here." Doctor Halsey said, with a little bit of fear in her voice. Cortana walked over to Halsey and looked at the information. "Wait, you mean to tell me that I'm slowly going insane?" Cortana said. Halsey nodded. "So it appears. It's a byproduct of merging the other half of your AI with the younger flash clone of myself." she said. "That's the bad news." Cortana sighed. "What's the good news?" she asked. "I can fix you, Cortana. By therapy, among other things. You can be normal again, it's as if you are entering rampancy, but as a human." Doctor Halsey said. "But the downside is, is that we have to leave Blood Gulch and get to a proper medical facility. Just let me pack up, call command and we'll be on our way." Cortana sighed. "We can't stay here?" she asked. "Absolutely not! You can say good-bye to everyone, but then we have to go!" Cortana let out another sigh, as Doctor Halsey got to work with packing up.

A/N: I would like to apologize if this chapter was lacking in anyway. So yeah, Cortana is going to be temparily leaving, but she will return in the sequel! Tucker has been promoted and he has gotten a Purple Heart medal! For any of you that are curious, Tucker would have been in a coma for at least four or five days. The UNSC have decided to provide funding to John to continue training the Reds, Blues and Freelancers. And as it was stated in the story, they will be getting new recruits! The first recruit will appear in the sequel, which I hope will come very, very soon! Also, the next chapter will be the last! At least for this story. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Even though we basically have reached the end of this story's life cycle, please, please, please do not hesitate to favorite and follow this story. It is not too late! It is also not too late to review! So, with that being said, the last chapter will be posted tonight as well, so until then, have a good night!


	27. Chapter 26: The End

Chapter 26: The End

A/N: Welcome to the final chapter. Church's disappearance will not be explained in this chapter, but in the sequel. Yes, there is going to be a sequel. I had a sequel planned around the time this story was halfway over. Cortana will be leaving in this chapter, the Blood Gulch Crew will be saying it's good-byes (for a short time anyway) and the Chief will be in a pretty sour mood. I don't want to give away anything else, so I'll let you read away! Also, this will be a very short chapter. Read on!

_John-117_

_Blood Gulch_

_Fifteen Minutes Later..._

The Chief stared at Cortana and Doctor Halsey, as both of them had grim looks on their faces. "No. No. No, you can't leave!" he said. "It doesn't make any sense!" Cortana sighed. "John, it doesn't have to make sense. All you need to know is that I'm slowing going insane, a byproduct of Doctor Halsey implanting my second half into the nervous system of her younger flash clone. The second half of the AI is slowly going rampant. She can fix me with therapy and a few surgical operations maybe, but I have to go. I can't stay or else I could go rampant like my first half did when we defeated the Didact." she said. "No." he said, taking Cortana's hands. "Please stay." Cortana let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, John. I can't risk it. Doctor Halsey says she can fix me. But look on the bright side, it's only for a few months to a year." Cortana said. "I'll be back before you know it. It's not forever." He sighed and nodded. "Hey. Just remember something." Cortana said. "What's that?" he said, as he took off his helmet, to face her. "Don't you forget about me." she said, before kissing him on the lips. They didn't have long to savor the feeling of their lips being together, as Cortana pulled away after about ten seconds. He felt his lips with his gloved hand, as they tingled long after they had parted. "Cortana. It's time." Doctor Halsey said, as she waited by the Pelican Dropship that had arrived not too long ago. "Good-bye, John." Cortana said in a sad tone, as one lone tear rolled down her cheek.

She turned around and boarded with Doctor Halsey. "Wait!" he said, stepping forward. Cortana looked back at him, with a sad look on her face. "Good-bye." she said in a gentle, but sad tone. Just then, he thought he saw a blur of something go by. Like an Elite using Active Camo, but due to the traumatic events he was experiencing, he gave it no thought. He stared as the Pelican lifted off of the ground and slowly rose out of the canyon. He just stared at the Pelican as it drifted off into the sky until finally, it disappeared. "Boo, no explosion!" Grif yelled. Just then the Chief heard the sound of the pin of a grenade being pulled, followed by an explosion. "Ow!" Grif howled in pain. "That's not what I meant!" He just heard Sarge chuckle. "Oh, suck it up you big baby. You wanted an explosion and I gave you an explosion!" The Chief let out a sigh as he put his helmet back on and walked back to Blue Base. He walked past Caboose, Carolina, Tex, and Washington, as their heads turned in a synchronized manner to watch him go. "Chief, what should we do?" Carolina asked. He turned to face her. "Do whatever you want. I'm going home." he said, before continuing on the path to Blue Base. "Yeah, fuck this! We just lost someone a week ago! We didn't need to lose two others!" Tex exclaimed. Everyone except the Chief and Caboose let out a sigh following Tucker's reply. "I don't get it. Sarge, are we fighting?" Simmons asked. " No Simmons, I think the Chief and his Blues have had enough for one day. Let's save a few for tomorrow!"

_**Roses are Red and Violets are Blue. One day we'll cruise down Blood Gluch Avenue. It's Red Vs. Red and Blue Vs. Blue, it's I against I and me against you...**_

_John-117_

_Blue Base_

_Several Days Later..._

It had been almost a week since Cortana left in the Pelican. There was still no sign of Church. Tomorrow, Tucker was scheduled to be cleared for active duty again. He had been MIA for two weeks now. John-117 stood atop Blue Base keeping a lookout for anything interesting. Unfortunately, nothing interesting ever happened in Blood Gulch. Carolina stood at his side, while she held a Battle Rifle and in his hand, a Sniper Rifle. He felt like something was wrong. She had just volunteered to be his partner for the day and they had never really worked together. He was just waiting for Carolina to speak, he knew she would eventually. And she did. "Chief?" she finally asked, breaking the three long hours of ackward silence between the two. "Hmm? Oh, what is it Carolina?" he asked, turning to face her. "Do you ever wonder why you're here?" she asked. The Chief placed his Rifle on his back and sighed.

"Carolina, I used to not care. I just went with the flow of protecting an AI construct, trying to assassinate a Prophet, fighting the Flood, going to war with the Prometheans and many other experiences that life has offered me. And I've had my fair share of adventures while with you and your friends. I fell in love with Cortana once we found out 'Cassie' was just a young flash-clone of Doctor Halsey, with the second half of Cortana placed in the nervous system. I made my own path when I joined you and your crew here in, well, wherever here is." he said. "But that was before I discovered my entire military career was a lie from the start when Doctor Halsey told be about Project Resurgence. Then, it was up to me to decide my destiny. They couldn't write my story any longer after that. The files that Doctor Halsey let me read before they left said that one day, I was supposed to meet all of you here. But then what? Nothing else was written. We set out on a grand adventure. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"And one thing else, everyone may or may not understand how I fell in love with a former AI. Well, it's not rocket science. And you can't just love someone or fuck them, even if Tucker begs to differ. You have to know them. You have to spend every day with them, you have to have similar chemistry with them, they have to have the same feelings as you do, they have to _want_ to be with you. Not only that, but we were paired together and we ended up falling in love. Those are reasons to truely love someone. Not because they're sexy or because you really want to sleep with them. You have to know them on a personal level, you have to see them everyday. And that's ok, because you wouldn't rather do anything else than just be beside them, because they have the same interests and you truely, truely, truely love them." the Chief finished his little speech, leaving Carolina staring at him. "What?" he asked. "I meant why are you here when you could be over at Red Base?" Carolina said. "Oh. Ok, I'll go to Red Base." he said, before turning around. "Wait." she said. He turned back around. "What?" he asked. "I just want to say you're right." she said. "But, you forgot to mention loosening up. Tucker is loosening up all the time. The first time I ever saw him as being serious is when he was afraid of dying in the final battle with the Flood. And he almost did die! I'm not saying that we should all be like Tucker, but perhaps we should all loosen up a bit in our own little ways. I mean, we have nothing to worry about! And... Tucker is kinda cute when he's serious. He can actually be put up with when he is serious, it seems!" The Chief chuckled. "Ok, I'll try to loosen up a little. Thank's Carolina!" And with that, he jumped off the roof of the Base, running towards Red Base.

_Grif_

_Cliffs at Red Base_

_Two Minutes Earlier..._

Grif looked through the scope of the Rifle at the Chief and Carolina. He and Simmons were standing up on the cliff areas around Red Base, doing their rounds as guards. "What are they doing now?" Simmons asked. "What?" Grif asked, turning to face Simmons. "I said, 'What are they doing now?'." he said. "God damn it! I'm sick of answering that question! I answered that question five minutes ago! They're just standing there talking! That's all the Blues ever do is stand around and talk. They did it yesterday, they even did it at the beginning of the week! I mean, we even stand around and talk! So, what do you think they'll be doing tomorrow?" Grif said. Simmons didn't speak for a minute. "What do you think they are talking about?" Simmons asked. "You know what? I fucking hate you." Grif said. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I hate you too, buddy." Simmons replied in a calm tone. "Oh shit." Grif said, as he noticed the Chief jogging towards them. "We are about to get company."

_John-117_

_Cliffs at Red Base..._

_Five Minutes Later..._

"Hey, guys. What are you up to?" the Chief asked once he reached them, out of breath. "Just keeping watch Sir." Grif said. "Kiss ass." Simmons muttered. "How have you been doing lately, since, you know-" Simmons was speaking, but the Chief interrupted him. "Let's not talk about that." he said. "Ok. Whatever you say Chief." Simmons said. "You can call me John if you want. You know, since my whole career has been a lie." he said. "Alright, Ch- I mean, John." Grif said. "Hey, ladies get down here!" Sarge called. "Lopez and I built a new vehicle out of old Tank and Warthog parts we had laying around!" They all exchanged looks, before heading down the hill that led up to the cliff. Lopez still spoke perfect English. "Old man, you mean _I _built a new vehicle." Lopez said. As he and Sarge began to argue, Simmons spoke. "Coming Sarge!" he called called. "It's a helicopter, it's awesome!" Donut said. "Hey, Chief! Grab a Mongoose!" Doc said, as he got onto a Ghost. "Let's all race around the Canyon!" _We should all loosen up in our own ways. _Carolina's voice echoed in his head. "Ok, I'll be right down!" he said, following Simmons and Grif down the hill. "I get to name this one!" Grif said. "Why?" Simmons asked. "Because you named the ATV that Sarge built all those years ago!" Grif said. "Oh, yeah. Good times. Or not." Simmons said. Just then, of all the shenanigans he had seen these two pull, the Chief thought of the perfect word. "Hey guys? Just one thing." he said. "What?" they both said. "Shotgun!" the Chief said. "Fuck!" Simmons and Grif said.

_**Violets are Blue, Roses are Red. Living like this we were already dead. Hop in my car, it don't have any doors. It's built like a cat, it lands on all fours. My car's like a puma, it drives on all fours.**_

A/N: I originally planned to end the chapter here, but I feel like I shouldn't end it here. Don't get me wrong, this _is_ the last chapter of the story. But, I have a few things I want to say. One, the sequel will be coming very soon! It will probably drop before the end of the month. Two, the Flood will be involved in the plot again, but it won't be mainly a "Flood-Only" plot. Church will be coming back (but who said he will come back as Epsilon...?), alongside Church, we will also see multiple characters, including Sister, Junior and the Arbiter (YES, THE FRIGGIN' ARBITER!). If I don't remember to update this author's note once the sequel has dropped, I will say now, that it will be called "HaloRed Vs Blue: The Great Flood War". And the last thing I want to say, is thank you. I thank the readers who have stuck around for the story since it's very first day: April 13th, 2015. Thank you all for reading this and even those who will read this after this final chapter is posted. Thank you, too! This is by far the most popular Fanfiction I have ever written. With over 21,000 views, 19 reviews, 44 favorites and 43 followers. Thank you all. Thank you for joining me on this fantastic adventure, and I hope you all join me again for the sequel. Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic day and bye!

UPDATE: The sequel is now up to read! As I said before, search for HaloRed Vs. Blue: The Great Flood War. Or, another thing you can do is just go to my page and find it with the rest of my stories. Have a good day!


End file.
